Abstract: The effects of extreme temperatures on survival, food consumption, growth, and gonad traits of the sea uchins Glyptocidaris crenularis were studied. Two treatments and one control group were involved. The control group was set at 19-23 ℃, and 30 ℃ and -2 ℃ were set as the two extreme temperature levels. Each group had three replicates, with each replicate consisting of 60 individuals. The experiment duration was 56 days. The results showed that the mortality rate of G. crenularis reached 100% within 2 days when G. crenularis were exposed to 30 ℃. The average food consumption (5.19±1.31 g·ind^-1) of G. crenularis at 30 ℃ was significantly lower than that in the control group (15.15±1.58 g·ind^-1) (P<0.01). No significant difference was found for the survival rate of G. crenularis between the low temperature and the control groups (P>0.05), although the food consumption (0.18±0.04 g·ind^-1) of G. crenularis at -2 ℃ was significantly lower than that in the control group (10.90±0.33 g·ind^-1) (P<0.01). The average body weight of G. crenularis in the low temperature group was significantly lower than that in the control group after 56 days. Wet lantern weight, lantern index, wet shell weight, wet gonad weight, dry shell weigh and shell index of individuals in the low temperature group were all significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.01). Dry gonad weight and dry lantern weight were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was found in gonad index (P>0.05). Maximum pressure endurance of G. crenularis shell was significantly different between the low temperature and the control groups (P<0.01). These findings indicate that G. crenularis can not survive at extreme high temperature (30 ℃); at the extreme low temperature (-2 ℃), most of G. crenularis can survive during the experiment, while food consumption, growth and gonad weight are significantly reduced.

Key words: cumulative effect, ecological effect, interpretative structural modeling (ISM), environmental impact, coal-electricity integration