Effects of UV-C on the masking behavior of the green urchin Salmacis sphaeroides (Linnaeus, 1758)
Abstract
The tropical urchin Salmacis sphaeroides is commonly observed covering itself with pieces of debris that it picks up from the substrate using its tube feet. This behavior is understood to be a response to bright sunlight. We exposed adult Salmacis sphaeroides to four different light treatments, i.e., dark, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), UV-C and PAR+UV-C, and quantified the rate of covering response using aluminium foil discs as covering material. Another objective was to demonstrate the harmful effect of UV-C on the covering response of sea urchins. Test urchins covered themselves considerably when exposed to PAR, while urchins under UVC+PAR covered themselves slightly more than under UV-C alone. Urchins with the least covering response were from the dark treatment. The experiments demonstrate that S. sphaeroides is negatively phototactic and that exposure to UV-C may hinder this response, presumably due to physiological stress.
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