Influence of some environmental factors on growth of gray sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus intermedius) at the northwestern coast of the Japan Sea

• Published in: Izvestiâ Tihookeanskogo naučno-issledovatelʹskogo rybohozâjstvennogo centra Vol. 195; no. 4; pp. 111 - 127
• Main Authors: Chalienko, M. O., Kulepanov, V. N., Matveev, V. I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Vladivostok TINRO-Center 27.12.2018; Transactions of the Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography
• Subjects: aquatic vegetation; gray sea urchin; Growth rate; hydrodynamic conditions; Invertebrate zoology; Marine; Plant cover; Population density; Species diversity; Strongylocentrotus intermedius; temperature regime; Water temperature; INW, Japan Sea
• DOI: 10.26428/1606-9919-2018-195-111-127
• ISSN: 1606-9919

Habitat conditions, as qualitative and quantitative composition of aquatic vegetation and oceanographic factors, are compared for six populations of sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius with different growth rate and mean size of individuals. The highest growth rate is observed in the areas between Cape Sosunov and Plitniak Bay, between Oprichnik Bay and Cape Grozny, and between Cape Lisuchenko and Kreiser Rock Island; all these areas are distinguished by high density and species diversity of macrophytes. On the contrary, the growth rate is the lowest at Cape Yuzhny where the vegetation is less abundant. All populations of slow-growing sea urchins inhabit the areas exposed to wave action that usually forms flat rocky platforms: at Cape Yuzhny, at Cape Nadezhda, and between the Yezhovaya Bay and Cape Khitrovo. However, density of sea urchin populations in these areas is higher (on average from 9.8 to 20.8 ind./m2) than in the areas with relatively high growth rate (from 0.16 to 7.20 ind./m2). Any signifcant correlation between the water temperature and mean size of sea urchins, by ages, is not detected.