1:45 PM - 3:15 PM
[O08-P68] The sea urchins that eat vegetables will lead to a decrease in rocky shore denudation.
Keywords:Sea, Environment
Isoyake is a phenomenon in which the number of living creatures such as seaweed, shellfish, and fish living on the seashore decreases. In fact, this phenomenon is occurring in Zushi Bay near our school. The cause of this phenomenon is thought to be a rise in sea water temperature due to climate change, which increases the activity of sea urchins that feed on seaweed. The Kanagawa Prefectural Fisheries Technology Center developed the cabbage sea urchin as a countermeasure. In that study, it was noted that the sea urchins preferred cabbage in particular among multiple food sources and ate it without tiring of it. However, there was no detailed description of what kind of food they preferred, so we wanted to find out why.
Cabbage is a specialty of Miura, and it is able to feed off-distribution standard cabbage to sea urchin. Isoyake is not only a problem in Kanagawa; according to the "Results of the Questionnaire Survey on the Actual Condition of Isoyake, 2006," the decline of seaweed beds has been confirmed in all prefectures except Chiba and Okinawa, and feeding damage by sea urchins seems to be widely observed from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Moreover, sea urchins that have become emaciated due to lack of food due to rocky shore burns are not suitable for eating. If we could find out what elements the cabbage prefers, we might be able to grow sea urchins using waste products from other prefectures, such as local specialties. This would greatly increase the use of exterminated sea urchins throughout the country and help prevent rocky shores from burning.
Sea urchins are particularly fond of cabbage, and we hypothesized that the difference between cabbage and other vegetables may be due to its composition. In the "On the cultivation of purple sea urchins using vegetables as a food source, 2018," it is shown in four levels whether sea urchins liked to eat multiple foods or not.
Once we know the factors of preference of omnivorous sea urchins, we would like to conduct control experiments using actual sea urchins to confirm the results.
Cabbage is a specialty of Miura, and it is able to feed off-distribution standard cabbage to sea urchin. Isoyake is not only a problem in Kanagawa; according to the "Results of the Questionnaire Survey on the Actual Condition of Isoyake, 2006," the decline of seaweed beds has been confirmed in all prefectures except Chiba and Okinawa, and feeding damage by sea urchins seems to be widely observed from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Moreover, sea urchins that have become emaciated due to lack of food due to rocky shore burns are not suitable for eating. If we could find out what elements the cabbage prefers, we might be able to grow sea urchins using waste products from other prefectures, such as local specialties. This would greatly increase the use of exterminated sea urchins throughout the country and help prevent rocky shores from burning.
Sea urchins are particularly fond of cabbage, and we hypothesized that the difference between cabbage and other vegetables may be due to its composition. In the "On the cultivation of purple sea urchins using vegetables as a food source, 2018," it is shown in four levels whether sea urchins liked to eat multiple foods or not.
Once we know the factors of preference of omnivorous sea urchins, we would like to conduct control experiments using actual sea urchins to confirm the results.