Covering behavior is a common but strange behavior in the sea urchin Glyptocidaris crenularis. The evolutionary basis of the behavior remains largely unknown and unclear. We investigated the effects of different ecological environments in the laboratory on the characteristics of the covering behavior of the sea urchin G. crenularis. We used three different environments: with shells (covering group) , with brick (sheltering group) and without covering materials (blank group). After seven months culture in each environment, we observed the covering behavior of the sea urchin G. crenularis using shells of two species of bivalve molluscs (Ruditapes philippinarum and Mytilus edulis) as potential covering material. The results showed that sea urchins in covering and sheltering groups picked up a shell and placed it onto its upper surface in a significantly shorter time than those in the blank group (P<0. 05). The number of sea urchins displaying covering behavior and the number of shells used for covering over time increased to a plateau for all three groups. The number of sea urchins displaying covering behavior reached the plateau at 40, 40 and 160 minute in the covering, blank and sheltering groups, respectively. The number of shells used for covering in covering, blank and sheltering groups reached plateau at 40, 40 and 120 minutes, respectively. Significantly more sea urchins displayed the covering behavior in the sheltering group than the other two groups (P<0. 05). However, there was no significant difference between the other two groups (P>0. 05). The number of shells used for covering was similar for the three groups (P>0. 05). However, the species of mollusk shell sea

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