摘要 : Reports of mass mortalities of echinoderms are largely anecdotal, despite their worldwide occurrence. This is unfortunate, as such events provide insight into the nature of biotic and abiotic stressors and their potential impact o... 展开 Reports of mass mortalities of echinoderms are largely anecdotal, despite their worldwide occurrence. This is unfortunate, as such events provide insight into the nature of biotic and abiotic stressors and their potential impact on population and community ecology. Moreover, rising seawater temperatures and ocean acidification (IPCC, 2013), the result of rapid anthropogenic climate change, have prioritized the establishment of baseline data on such mortality events as a means of evaluating future climate impacts. Lawrence (1996) noted that abiotic factors (temperature, salinity, oxygen, hydrodynamics) can result in mass mortalities of shallow-water echinoderms. Biotoxicity has been reported in a few cases. To date, the vast majority of echinoderm mortality events that have been reported in the literature are for species of sea urchins and, to a lesser extent, sea stars (reviewed in Lawrence, 1996; also see McClintock et al., 2013). We are unaware of any published reports documenting a mass mortality event in sea cucumbers. Infaunal aspidochirote sea cucumbers, such as some Holothuria species, are near the bottom surface and susceptible to hydrodynamics in shallow water. They rework the sediment and bring up deep deposits to the surface. They also are major bioturbators and affect infaunal abundance and rank assemblages (Dahlgren et al., 1999). Consequently, their mass mortality in shallow waters could have a pronounced ecological effect. Dahlgren et al. (1999) reported densities of Holothuria princeps of four to six individuals at 10 m~(-2) at 32 m in depth off the North Carolina coast. 收起