Outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster spp. (COTS) have become to be amongst the most severe threats to coral reefs worldwide. Although most research has focused on COTS early development, it remains unclear how COTS populations will keep pace with changing ocean conditions. Since reproduction is a key process contributing to outbreaks, we investigated the reproductive success of adult COTS acclimated for 3–4 months to different treatment combinations of ambient conditions, ocean warming (+2 °C) and acidification (−0.35 pH). Our results suggest that the optimal breeding season in New Caledonia is concentrated around the end of the calendar year, when water temperature reaches >26 °C. We found negative effects of temperature on egg metrics, fertilisation success, and GSI, conflicting with previously documented effects of temperature on echinoderm reproductive outputs. Fertilisation success dropped drastically (more than threefold) with elevated temperature during the late breeding season. In contrast, we detected no effects of near-future acidification conditions on fertilisation success nor GSI. This is the first time that COTS reproduction is compared among individuals acclimated to different conditions of warming and acidification. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for adult exposure to better understand how COTS reproduction may be impacted in the face of global change.

以珊瑚为食的荆棘王冠海星Acanthaster爆发spp。（COTS）已成为全球范围内对珊瑚礁的最严重威胁之一。尽管大多数研究都集中在COTS的早期开发上，但仍不清楚COTS种群将如何跟上不断变化的海洋状况。由于繁殖是导致暴发的关键过程，我们研究了适应环境条件，海洋变暖（+2°C）和酸化（pH = 0.35）的不同处理组合适应了3-4个月的成年COTS的繁殖成功。我们的结果表明，新喀里多尼亚的最佳繁殖季节集中在日历年末，即水温超过26°C时。我们发现温度对蛋量，受精成功率和GSI有负面影响，这与先前记录的温度对棘皮动物生殖输出的影响相矛盾。在繁殖后期，温度升高，施肥成功率急剧下降（超过三倍）。相反，我们没有发现近期的酸化条件对施肥成功或GSI均没有影响。这是首次在适应不同升温和酸化条件的个体之间比较COTS繁殖。我们的结果强调了对成人暴露进行核算的重要性，以更好地了解面对全球变化，COTS繁殖可能会受到怎样的影响。这是首次在适应不同升温和酸化条件的个体之间比较COTS繁殖。我们的结果强调了对成人暴露进行核算的重要性，以更好地了解面对全球变化，COTS繁殖可能会受到怎样的影响。这是首次在适应不同升温和酸化条件的个体之间比较COTS繁殖。我们的结果强调了对成人暴露进行核算的重要性，以更好地了解面对全球变化，COTS繁殖可能会受到怎样的影响。