Typical Marine Ecological Disasters in China Attributed to Marine Organisms and Their Significant Insights

Abstract

Owing to global climate change or the ever-more frequent human activities in the offshore areas, it is highly probable that an imbalance in the offshore ecosystem has been induced. However, the importance of maintaining and protecting marine ecosystems' balance cannot be overstated. In recent years, various marine disasters have occurred frequently, such as harmful algal blooms (green tides and red tides), storm surge disasters, wave disasters, sea ice disasters, and tsunami disasters. Additionally, overpopulation of certain marine organisms (particularly marine faunas) has led to marine disasters, threatening both marine ecosystems and human safety. The marine ecological disaster monitoring system in China primarily focuses on monitoring and controlling the outbreak of green tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some Ulva species) and red tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some diatom and dinoflagellate species). Currently, there are outbreaks of Cnidaria (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa organisms; outbreak species are frequently referred to as jellyfish), Annelida (Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880), Mollusca (Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934), Arthropoda (Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919), and Echinodermata (Asteroidea organisms, Ophiuroidea organisms, and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867) in China. They not only cause significant damage to marine fisheries, tourism, coastal industries, and ship navigation but also have profound impacts on marine ecosystems, especially near nuclear power plants, sea bathing beaches, and infrastructures, posing threats to human lives. Therefore, this review provides a detailed introduction to the marine organisms (especially marine fauna species) causing marine biological disasters in China, the current outbreak situations, and the biological backgrounds of these outbreaks. This review also provides an analysis of the causes of these outbreaks. Furthermore, it presents future prospects for marine biological disasters, proposing corresponding measures and advocating for enhanced resource utilization and fundamental research. It is recommended that future efforts focus on improving the monitoring of marine biological disasters and integrating them into the marine ecological disaster monitoring system. The aim of this review is to offer reference information and constructive suggestions for enhancing future monitoring, early warning systems, and prevention efforts related to marine ecological disasters in support of the healthy development and stable operation of marine ecosystems.

Keywords: Annelida; Arthropoda; Cnidaria; Echinodermata; Mollusca; harmful algal blooms; marine ecological disasters; marine management.

Figure 3

The outbreak of Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880; Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934; and Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919, occurred in China. Urechis unicinctus was discovered in the seafloor habitats of Jiaozhou Bay on 1 August 2019 (a); an outbreak of P. kinglipini occurred in the seawaters of Jiaozhou Bay in 2022 [89] (b); Acetes chinensis were captured in the Southern Yellow Sea in 2024 (c). Among them, the white dashed arrow indicates the sediment collected from the seafloor, and the red dashed arrow indicates U. unicinctus.

Figure 4

In 2018, an outbreak of Acanthaster planci Linnaeus, 1758, occurred in the sea area of Xisha Islands [140] (a) (Reproduced with permission; Copyright 2021; Science China Press); in 2021, an outbreak of Asterina pectinifera Muller and Troschel, 1842 took place in the sea area near Laopian Island, Dalian [126] (b); on June 22, 2019, the Ophiuroidea species was collected in the East China Sea (c); in May 2017, the population of Ophiuroidea species was observed in the sea area of north Yellow Sea [173]; (d) (Reproduced with permission; Copyright © 2019; Chinese Society for Oceanology and Limnology; Science Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany; part of Springer Natures); and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867 was collected from the East China Sea in 2018 [196] (e). The white dashed arrow indicates the Ophiuroidea species collected from the seafloor sediments.

Figure 1

The large-scale outbreak of green tides and red tides occurred in China. (a) A green tide event occurred in the Yellow Sea in July 2019; (b) A red tide event occurred in the East China Sea in June 2019.

Figure 2

The outbreak of jellyfish occurred in the China Sea. On 21 June 2021, the jellyfish bloom was observed in the offshore waters of the Yellow Sea (a,b); on 26 June 2021 (c) and 3 June 2024 (d), the jellyfish bloom was observed in the East China Sea. The red or white dashed arrows indicate the location of the jellyfish that have been spotted.

Figure 5

Due to their culinary appeal and distinctive flavor, starfish are frequently utilized as accompaniments in Chinese hotpot cuisine (a); some species of jellyfish have edible oral arms, which are commonly prepared as cold shredded jellyfish in China (b).