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Background and Aims: Mesocentrotus nudus is commercially harvested from shallow rocky bottoms in northern Japan. The gonads are targeted as an edible product. The objective of this study was to identify odor-active volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the gonads of adult M. nudus collected at a fishing ground in Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku, Japan. Methods and Results: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and gas chromatography-sniffing techniques identified 42 compounds categorized as alcohols, aldehydes, aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, halomethanes, hydrocarbons, ketones, sulfur-containing compounds, and nitrogen-containing compounds. GC-sniffing analysis characterized four compounds with preferable odors of sea urchin gonads; limonene, propyl acetate, acetone, dibromochloromethane. On the other hand, the analysis characterized three compounds with unpreferable odors; methyl mercaptane, dimethyl sulfide, and s-methyl thioacetate. Several VOCs from the gonads were derived from seaweeds, terrestrial plants, and fish flesh as food because M. nudus is omnivorous. Conclusion: This is the first study to identify VOCs from edible sea urchin gonads in the wild in Japan. These VOC data comprise a typical standard in order to evaluate a higher quality of sea urchin gonads.

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SUMMARY We conducted a 5‐year monitoring survey of a population of Eisenia bicyclis kelp at a coastal area that suffered subsidence from the 2011 earthquake and the subsequent breakwater restoration work. Due to subsidence, the former intertidal area sank to the subtidal zone, therefore, the density of E. bicyclis increased because of many recruits. However, after the restoration work, the area harboring the recruits was destroyed and landfilled. In an area that sank below the pre‐subsidence border of the kelp distribution, recruits were rare. Furthermore, an indirect effect of the restoration work was also observed on recruitment in the intact offshore kelp zone. Our results showed that the breakwater restoration work following subsidence had negative effects, not only to the density but also to the age structure of the E. bicyclis population.

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