It is crucial to understand the role of temperature in rearing sea urchin larvae for large-scale production of sea urchin seeds. The development of purple sea urchins, Heliocidaris crassispina, such as fertilization, hatching, embryonic development, larval growth, ingestion, metabolism, and metamorphosis, was investigated at four temperatures: 20, 24, 28, and 32 °C. In the four temperatures, fertilization and hatching of sea urchins first increased with temperature and then decreased. The optimal condition was found at a temperature of 28 °C, where the fertilization and hatching rates exceeded 90%, and embryonic development was highly synchronized. This condition did not differ from the results observed at a temperature of 24 °C (P > 0.05). The fertilization and hatching rates were lower at 20 °C and 32 °C, among which 32 °C had the fastest embryo development but the second highest mortality. In contrast, 20 °C had the slowest embryo development and the most increased mortality. The optimal growth temperature for larvae is 28 °C, at which their growth and development rate are the fastest. However, at 24 °C, it is the second highest. At 20 °C, the growth rate is the lowest, with sluggish physiological responses and the lowest digestion and metabolism capacity. The metamorphosis rate did not differ between 28 and 32 °C (P < 0.05), with 50.0% and 61.1%, respectively, while remaining below 4% at 20 °C. This indicates that temperature significantly impacts the early development of Heliocidaris crassispina sea urchins, whose larvae may be sensitive to low temperatures but have higher temperature tolerance.

了解温度在海胆幼虫培育过程中的作用对于海胆种子的大规模生产至关重要。在 20°C、24°C、28°C 和 32°C 四种温度下研究了紫海胆Heliocidaris crassispina的发育，如受精、孵化、胚胎发育、幼体生长、摄食、代谢和变态。在4种温度下，海胆的受精和孵化先随温度升高而降低。最佳条件为28℃，受精率和孵化率超过90%，胚胎发育高度同步。此条件与 24 °C 温度下观察到的结果没有差异 ( P  > 0.05)。20℃和32℃时受精率和孵化率较低，其中32℃胚胎发育最快，但死亡率第二高。相比之下，20°C 胚胎发育最慢，死亡率增加最多。幼虫最适生长温度为28℃，此时其生长发育速度最快。然而，在 24°C 时，它是第二高的。20℃时生长速度最低，生理反应迟缓，消化代谢能力最低。28℃和32℃下变态率无差异（P  <0.05），分别为50.0%和61.1%，而20℃时变态率仍低于4%。这表明温度对Heliocidaris crassispina海胆的早期发育影响显着，其幼虫可能对低温敏感，但具有较高的耐温能力。