International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol.15, No.4, 199-208 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 204 Figure 2 The structure and digestive enzyme system of the H. leucospilotadigestive tract (Adopted from Pan et al., 2024) 6.3 Potential impact on coral reefs and tropical ocean food web Ocean acidification and its impact on key species such as sea cucumbers will produce chain reactions at the ecosystem level. In coral reef ecosystems, changes in sea parameter quantity and behavior are transmitted to other organisms through nutrient circulation and habitat engineering effects (Wu et al., 2024). If sea cucumber feeding decreases and the amount decreases, sediment organic matter will accumulate (Clements et al., 2024), the matrix environment of coral larvae attachment deteriorates, and coral reef structural stability is impaired (Maritan et al., 2025). At the same time, the nutritional reduction of sea cucumber excretion may affect the growth of symbiotic algae and algae communities and change the primary production pattern. The decline of sea cucumbers will also affect predators that feed on them, such as certain fish and invertebrate predators, causing reorganization of energy flow in the food web (Viyakarn et al., 2020).
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