Complex marine benthic environments shape a number of ecologically important behaviors in sea urchins, including covering and righting behaviors. The present study correlated covering and righting behaviors to a serie...Complex marine benthic environments shape a number of ecologically important behaviors in sea urchins, including covering and righting behaviors. The present study correlated covering and righting behaviors to a series of fi tness-related traits in sea urchins. Righting response time of Glyptocidaris crenularis was signifi cantly positively correlated with body size, but signifi cantly negatively correlated with food consumption. Covering behavior was not signifi cantly correlated with test diameter, test height or body weight, but covering response time was negatively correlated with body weight. A signifi cantly negative correlation was found between righting response time and covering response time. Glyptocidaris crenularis showed a signifi cantly positive correlation in covering response time with and without exposure to poured sand, but no signifi cance in covering ability(number of shells used to cover). The present study provides new insight into internal mechanisms and evolutionary drives of covering and righting behaviors of sea urchins.展开更多
We investigated the role of hydrological features, such as water masses, fronts, eddies, and sea ice, in affecting the distribution of upper trophic level species in the Scotia Sea region during autumn. On board RV Po...We investigated the role of hydrological features, such as water masses, fronts, eddies, and sea ice, in affecting the distribution of upper trophic level species in the Scotia Sea region during autumn. On board RV Polarstern, we performed 365 30-min strip transects recording seabirds and marine mammals along the North Scotia Ridge and the South Sandwich Trench in March--April 2013. Among the 7 identified cetacean species recorded, the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae was the most abundant baleen whale （40 individuals）, and noteworthy were sightings of six southern right whales Eubalaena australis. Pinnipeds （3 species, 1650 individuals） were dominated by Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella （99%）, and seabirds （36 species, 18900 individuals） by Antarctic prion Pachyptila desolata （-50%）. The distribution of these top predators was highly patchy with the majority of observations concentrated in a few counts. This heterogeneity is likely a result of prey availability, and we discuss how hydrological features may have caused the patchiness.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41506177)the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(No.2012AA10A412)the research project granted by Dalian Ocean University(No.110914001001)
文摘Complex marine benthic environments shape a number of ecologically important behaviors in sea urchins, including covering and righting behaviors. The present study correlated covering and righting behaviors to a series of fi tness-related traits in sea urchins. Righting response time of Glyptocidaris crenularis was signifi cantly positively correlated with body size, but signifi cantly negatively correlated with food consumption. Covering behavior was not signifi cantly correlated with test diameter, test height or body weight, but covering response time was negatively correlated with body weight. A signifi cantly negative correlation was found between righting response time and covering response time. Glyptocidaris crenularis showed a signifi cantly positive correlation in covering response time with and without exposure to poured sand, but no signifi cance in covering ability(number of shells used to cover). The present study provides new insight into internal mechanisms and evolutionary drives of covering and righting behaviors of sea urchins.
文摘We investigated the role of hydrological features, such as water masses, fronts, eddies, and sea ice, in affecting the distribution of upper trophic level species in the Scotia Sea region during autumn. On board RV Polarstern, we performed 365 30-min strip transects recording seabirds and marine mammals along the North Scotia Ridge and the South Sandwich Trench in March--April 2013. Among the 7 identified cetacean species recorded, the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae was the most abundant baleen whale （40 individuals）, and noteworthy were sightings of six southern right whales Eubalaena australis. Pinnipeds （3 species, 1650 individuals） were dominated by Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella （99%）, and seabirds （36 species, 18900 individuals） by Antarctic prion Pachyptila desolata （-50%）. The distribution of these top predators was highly patchy with the majority of observations concentrated in a few counts. This heterogeneity is likely a result of prey availability, and we discuss how hydrological features may have caused the patchiness.
