Community dynamics in benthic marine ecosystems are largely driven by larval settlement, which relies on larvae selecting suitable environments based on the integration of sensory cues. The task of selecting habitable substrates by larvae is crucial for the fitness and success of adult individuals since most sessile stages permanently attach to substrates. The colonial hydrozoan Ectopleura crocea is an economically important fouling species in the New England fisheries, however, the sensory cues that determine where larvae settle are poorly understood. Here we examine the settlement response of E. crocea actinula larvae by leveraging a factorial larval settlement study that examines the effects of light, chemical, and mechanical (texture) cues together with a developmental transcriptome study investigating sensory gene expression. We found evidence for sensory control over larval settlement with chemical cues having the strongest influence on settlement, followed by mechanical cues with a negative effect on settlement. Photosensory cues influenced settlement in the absence of chemical and mechanical cues. Additionally, we found significant differential gene expression across various developmental stages and found that candidate sensory gene sets reach their peak expression just prior to the stage where larvae are competent to settle. Our findings reveal a hierarchy of sensory control over larval settlement in E. crocea and demonstrate that actinula have the capacity to integrate sensory information from multiple sensory modalities when making settlement decisions.