Abstract: This paper compared the differences between Sepiella maindroni wild and cultured eggs, and studied the effects of temperature, salinity, hatching density, and egg type on the hatching rate and hatching time of the eggs. Wild eggs had better quality than cultured eggs. Among cultured eggs, small and black eggs had the best quality. For wild eggs, the optimum hatching temperature was 27 ℃-29 ℃, and the optimum hatching salinity was 24.5-32.0. Hatching density had no significant effects on the hatching rate of wild eggs. For cultured eggs, their hatching rate was 6.7%-30.0% when the temperature was 19 ℃-29 ℃. No cultured eggs were hatched when the temperature was higher than 33 ℃ or lower than 17 ℃. When the salinity was 19.5-32.0, the hatching rate of cultured eggs was 18.3%-25.0%. No hatching was observed when the salinity was below 17.0. Hatching density had no significant effects on the hatching rate of cultured eggs when air was provided, but the hatching rate was significantly affected when no air was provided.

Key words: Sepiella maindroni, egg type, temperature, salinity, density, Probit regression model, land use change, driving force, Nanjing City.