Effects of long-term elevated temperature on covering, sheltering and righting behaviors of the sea urchinStrongylocentrotus intermedius

• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3122
• Publication Date: 2017-03-22T09:09:28Z
• Authors: Lisheng Zhang; Lingling Zhang; Dongtao Shi; Jing Wei; Yaqing Chang; Chong Zhao
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; Sea urchin; Behavior; Strongylocentrotus intermedius; Animal Behavior; QH301-705.5; R; 01 natural sciences; Ocean warming; 13. Climate action; Medicine; 14. Life underwater; Biology (General)

Increases in ocean temperature due to climate change are predicted to change the behaviors of marine invertebrates. Altered behaviors of keystone ecosystem engineers such as echinoderms will have consequences for the fitness of individuals, which are expected to flow on to the local ecosystem. Relatively few studies have investigated the behavioral responses of echinoderms to long-term elevated temperature. We investigated the effects of exposure to long-term (∼31 weeks) elevated temperature (∼3 °C above the ambient water temperature) on covering, sheltering and righting behaviors of the sea urchinStrongylocentrotus intermedius. Long-term elevated temperature showed different effects on the three behaviors. It significantly decreased covering behavior, including both covering behavior reaction (time to first covering) and ability (number of covered sea urchins and number of shells used for covering). Conversely, exposure to long-term elevated temperature significantly increased sheltering behavior. Righting response inS. intermediuswas not significantly different between temperature treatments. The results provide new information into behavioral responses of echinoderms to ocean warming.