ABSTRACT: Righting behavior has been used extensively in laboratory studies of sea urchins as an indicator of stress under various environmental conditions. In situ measurements of the natural righting response of sea urchins would serve to place such laboratory measurements in an ecological context as well as potentially validate laboratory control conditions. We investigated the righting response of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus in seagrass and sand bottom habitats of Saint Joseph’s Bay, Florida. Field-measured righting times (other than the exception mentioned below) in L. variegatus were similar to those measured in laboratory studies. Moreover, as seen in multiple sea urchin species in laboratory studies, smaller individuals exhibited significantly shorter righting times than larger individuals. Importantly, sea urchins lacking covering material (shell material, seagrass blades) that were placed on open sand patches took significantly longer to right than those with covering material placed on sand patches. Our field observations indicate the importance of sea urchin size, substrate type, and the presence or absence of covering materials when making righting measurements in the laboratory or the field. Our findings also suggest that higher water velocities facilitate righting, as at higher flows on sand patches, the presence/absence of covering material no longer significantly impacted righting time. These findings are ecologically important as they indicate that, under certain natural conditions (sand substrate, low availability of covering materials and low water velocities), L. variegatus that are displaced onto their aboral side are more vulnerable to predation.

中文翻译：

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常见海胆Lytechinus variegatus中扶正行为的原位测量：身体大小，基质类型和覆盖材料的重要性

摘要：在海胆的实验室研究中，扶正行为已被广泛用作各种环境条件下压力的指示。海胆自然扶正响应的原位测量将有助于将此类实验室测量值置于生态环境中，并可能验证实验室控制条件。我们调查了佛罗里达州圣约瑟夫湾海草和沙底生境中海胆Lytechinus variegatus的纠正反应。百日咳乳杆菌的实地测量扶正时间（以下所述除外）与实验室研究中测得的相似。而且，如在实验室研究中在多种海胆物种中所见，较小的个体比较大的个体表现出明显较短的扶正时间。重要的是，缺少覆盖材料（外壳材料，海草叶片）的海胆放置在开放的沙块上所花费的时间比放置在沙子上的海胆要长得多。我们的现场观察表明，在实验室或现场进行整正测量时，海胆尺寸，基材类型以及是否存在覆盖材料的重要性。我们的发现还表明，较高的水速有助于扶正，因为在沙斑上流量较高时，覆盖材料的存在/不存在不再显着影响扶正时间。移到其北侧的变异乳杆菌更容易被捕食。