Diagnosis of microbiologically influenced corrosion on iron‐containing substrata exposed in marine environments cannot be based solely on spatial relationships between large accumulations of bacterial cells and iron corrosion products. Experiments were designed to evaluate the relationship between marine bacteria and localized corrosion on coated mild steel. The distribution of bacteria was strongly influenced by the presence of iron corrosion products independent of coating combinations. In the presence of cathodic protection, coating defects were filled with calcareous deposits and few bacterial cells. The results demonstrate that bacteria are preferentially attracted to iron corrosion products in coating defects and that attraction is more influential than topography in determining the spatial distribution of bacterial cells.
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