The potential effects of three heavy metals (Cu, Pb, and Cd) on hatching success of Acartia pacifica resting eggs in the sediment of Xiamen Bay were experimentally investigated. The number of A. pacifica nauplii hatched from the sediment sharply decreased with the increase of metal concentration and exposure time from 3 to 30 d. An increase of the Cu concentration from 34.8 to 348 mg/kg, reduced the number of hatched nauplii by 46.6%-100%. An increase of the Pb concentration from 75.2 to 752 mg/kg, reduced the number of hatched nauplii by 21.4%-78.9%. An increase of the Cd concentration from 0.68 to 6.8 mg/kg, reduced the number of hatched nauplii by 31.6%-94.7%. The number of nauplii also significantly decreased with the increase of mixed-metal concentration and exposure time in the mixed-metal test. Trimmed Spearman-Karber analysis gave sediment metal 72-h LC50 values of 1.25 mmole Cu/kg, 1.73 mmole Pb/kg, and 0.054 mmole Cd/kg, which suggested that Cd was the most toxic to A. pacifica resting eggs in three tested metals. The results indicate that heavy metals with higher concentrations can reduce recruitment of A. pacifica nauplii from benthic resting eggs to planktonic population.