Background In recent years, the breeding industry of Apostichopus japonicus has developed rapidly, but the high-density breeding mode has led to frequent disease problems. Although the use of traditional antibiotics can inhibit pathogenic microorganisms, it has caused many disadvantages, such as drug resistance, drug residue and environmental pollution, etc, which seriously restricts the sustainable development of the breeding industry of A. japonicus. In this paper, the search for safe and effective antibiotics has become the research focus of A. japonicus aquaculture. Probiotics have been gradually applied in A. japonicus aquaculture due to their significant advantages such as high safety, low toxicity and low side effects, etc.

Objective The paper aims to systematically summarize the practical application effect of microecological agents in A. japonicus aquaculture, and deeply analyze its effects on the growth performance, immune function, disease resistance and aquaculture environment of A. japonicus, so as to build a new development mode of non resistance, green and efficient for A. japonicus aquaculture industry, and promote the sustainable development of A. japonicus aquaculture industry.

Progress Through a comprehensive literature review, the paper systematically combed the classification system of probiotics, which could be divided into probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics according to the composition of substances. At the same time, the mechanism and application research progress of probiotics in A. japonicus culture were elaborated in detail. It was concluded that probiotics can promote the growth of A. japonicus, improve the immune and disease resistance level, and optimize the breeding environment by improving the balance of intestinal flora, regulating the body’s immunity, producing nutrients, enzymatic digestion and purifying the breeding water.

Prospect In the future, the research of A. japonicus microecological agents should be strengthened, combining modern biotechnology such as genetic engineering, fermentation engineering, enzyme engineering, and focusing on breaking through the key problems of environmental parameters regulating the colonization mechanism of flora, screen excellent strains with stress resistance and high activity, and developing microecological agents with strong stability and easy storage. In addition, it is necessary to vigorously promote the research on the synergistic mechanism of compound microbial agents, improve the product safety assessment system, and build a scientific non resistant healthy breeding mode, so as to help the A. japonicus industry achieve the goal of green and sustainable development.