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Small sea urchins Strongylocentrotus intermedius (1–2 cm of test diameter) are exposed to different environments of light intensities after being reseeded to the sea bottom. With little information available about the behavioral responses of S. intermedius to different light intensities in the environment, we carried out an investigation on how S. intermedius is affected by three light intensity environments in terms of phototaxis, foraging and righting behaviors. They were no light (zero lx), low light intensity (24–209 lx) and high light intensity (252–2,280 lx). Light intensity had obvious different effects on phototaxis. In low light intensity, sea urchins moved more and spent significantly more time at the higher intensity (69–209 lx) (P = 0.046). S. intermedius in high light intensity, in contrast, spent significantly more time at lower intensity (252–690 lx) (P = 0.005). Unexpectedly, no significant difference of movement (average velocity and total distance covered) was found among the three light intensities (P > 0.05). Foraging behavior of S. intermedius was significantly different among the light intensities. In the no light environment, only three of ten S. intermedius found food within 7 min. In low light intensity, nine of 10 sea urchins showed successful foraging behavior to the food placed at 209 lx, which was significantly higher than the ratio of the number (two of 10) when food was placed at 24 lx (P = 0.005). In the high light intensity, in contrast, significantly less sea urchins (three of 10) found food placed at the higher light intensity (2,280 lx) compared with the lower light intensity (252 lx) (10/10, P = 0.003). Furthermore, S. intermedius showed significantly longer righting response time in the high light intensity compared with both no light (P = 0.001) and low light intensity (P = 0.031). No significant difference was found in righting behavior between no light and low light intensity (P = 0.892). The present study indicates that light intensity significantly affects phototaxis, foraging and righting behaviors of S. intermedius and that ~200 lx might be the appropriate light intensity for reseeding small S. intermedius.

Transgenerational effects are important for phenotypic plasticity and adaptation of marine invertebrates in the changing ocean. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation is an increasing threat to marine invertebrates. For the first time, we reported positive and negative transgenerational effects of UV-B radiation on egg size, fertilization, hatchability and larval size of a marine invertebrate. Strongylocentrotus intermedius exposed to UV-B radiation showed positive transgenerational effects and adaptation on egg size, hatching rate and post-oral arm length of larvae. Negative transgenerational effects were found in body length, stomach length and stomach width of larvae whose parents were exposed to UV-B radiation. Sires probably play important roles in transgenerational effects of UV-B. The present study provides valuable information into transgenerational effects of UV-B radiation on fitness related traits of sea urchins (at least Strongylocentrotus intermedius).

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