Key Laboratory of Mariculture & Stock Enhancement in North China's Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, 116023, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fishery Ecology and Environment, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences, Guangzhou, 510300, China.
Mar Environ Res. 2021 Oct;171:105476. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105476. Epub 2021 Sep 10.
A cost-effective approach to controlling foraging and feeding behaviors of sea urchins is essential for the management of kelp beds. Laboratory experiments were designed to investigate whether alarm cues from crushed conspecific urchins can effectively prevent the foraging and feeding behaviors of the sea urchin Mesocentrotus nudus under the static seawater condition. The present study found that the number of M. nudus that foraged successfully was significantly lower when alarm cues were placed between the kelp and the sea urchins. This result indicates that alarm cues could play an important role in critical kelp-bed areas. It probably prevents sea urchins from foraging by acting as a barrier. Further, we found that alarm cues around the kelp significantly affected foraging behavior of M. nudus, indicating that the alarm cues around the kelp are a potential effective way to prevent sea urchins from foraging for the kelp. In addition, the number of sea urchins that stopped feeding was significantly higher in the group in the presence of alarm cues than that in the control group. This indicates that alarm cues may have an application in stopping sea urchins from feeding. However, there was no significant difference of Aristotle's lantern reflex between the groups with and without alarm cues. These results indicate that alarm cues greatly affect foraging behavior, but not Aristotle's lantern reflex of M. nudus. All together, the present study suggests that alarm cues have an application potential in the management of the kelp beds as green engineering. Future studies are essential to further investigate the chemical basis of the alarm cues of sea urchins for the application in large-scale.
控制海胆觅食和进食行为的经济有效方法对于海带床的管理至关重要。实验室实验旨在研究来自压碎同种海胆的警报信号是否能有效防止在静态海水条件下，棘皮动物海胆 Mesocentrotus nudus 的觅食和进食行为。本研究发现，当警报信号置于海带和海胆之间时，成功觅食的海胆数量明显减少。这一结果表明，警报信号可能在关键的海带床区域发挥重要作用。它可能通过充当屏障来阻止海胆觅食。此外，我们发现海带周围的警报信号显著影响了 M. nudus 的觅食行为，表明海带周围的警报信号是一种潜在的有效防止海胆觅食海带的方法。此外，在有警报信号的组中，停止进食的海胆数量明显高于对照组。这表明警报信号可能在阻止海胆进食方面有应用。然而，在有和没有警报信号的组之间， Aristotle 的灯笼反射没有显著差异。这些结果表明，警报信号极大地影响了海胆的觅食行为，但对 M. nudus 的 Aristotle 的灯笼反射没有影响。总的来说，本研究表明，警报信号在海带床管理中具有应用潜力，可以作为绿色工程。未来的研究对于进一步研究海胆警报信号的化学基础及其在大规模应用中的应用至关重要。
