Growth and gonad production of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus nudus in relation to marine algal communities along the Japan sea coast of Akita prefecture, northwestern Japan
2006
Nakabayashi, N.(Akita-ken. Inst. of Fisheries, Oga (Japan)) | ; Miura, N. | ; Agatsuma, Y. | ; Taniguchi, K.
Growth, gonad size and gut content of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus nudus were clarified among different algal communities along the coast of Akita prefecture, northwestern Japan. The sea urchin attained to 50 mm test diameter at 3 - 4 years old in fucoid beds, 5 - 6 years old in a red algae Chondrus ocellatus-dominated bed and 7 - 8 years old in a red algae Laurencia spp.-dominated bed with feeding-deterrent metabolites against the sea urchins and in crustose corallines. The gonad indices (gonad wet weight x 100/body wet weight) in crustose corallines were lower than those in the foliose beds, of which showed no significant difference. The main components of the gut content were fucoids and crustose corallines, while few Laurencia spp. were observed. These findings suggest that growth and gonad production of S. nudus are caused by both nutritional and feeding-elective marine algae.
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