AQUACULTURE OF SEA URCHIN: WILL THEY BE STRESSED?

Sea urchins have been known for their roe as delicacy. But in recent time, they are increasingly getting importance for their roles in the ecology as well as for research models and marine pharmaceuticals. As they are getting importance, many farmers are now trying to cultivate them in land-based aquaculture systems. In our experiments, we therefore wanted to investigate if sea urchins also get stressed like their vertebrate relatives. We have placed them in two experimental groups- stressed and unstressed and measured their physiological and immunological responses in both acute and chronic conditions. From Condition factors, gonado-somatic indices, packed cell volumes, coelomic fluid proteins, total and differential cell counts, and coelomocyte phagocytic activities- we found out that sea urchins also get stressed and lose their immunity. We will discuss our findings in detailed during the presentation.