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Abstract

Holothuria mammata is one of the new target species from the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Usually, it inhabits rocky bottoms, staying in crevices and holes during the day and leaving them in the night for feeding on sandy bottoms. However, it can be found in unusual habitats such as seagrass with diurnal and nocturnal feeding. This study provides information for the first time on the behaviour, density and small scale distribution of H. mammata in a seagrass habitat from Ria Formosa (S Portugal). To reach these aims, a mark/recapture methodology was used. Abundance was estimated through R statistical software v.2.15.3 (package "Rcapture"). The minimum area method was applied in GRASS GIS v.6.4.2 for home range. Size distribution was estimated applying a Shapiro-Wilk test. Rayleigh test for randomness was applied to study the directionality of movements. A circular one-way ANOVA was used to test for differences in movement direction. Capture probability was higher on seagrass than sand and the total length of the individuals ranged from 13 to 25 cm. Movement speed was between 4.7 and 14.7 m day -1 . Movements were not directional. H. mammata differs in its behaviour from the related Holothuria arguinensis occurring in the same habitat.

Modelling the Distribution of a Commercial NE-Atlantic Sea Cucumber, Holothuria mammata: Demographic and Abundance Spatio-Temporal Patterns

“…Mediterranean and other NE-Atlantic regions show populations of this species with lower maximum sizes, the majority between 25 and 38 cm (Navarro et al, 2013;González-Wangüemert et al, 2014Marquet et al, 2017;Mustapha and Hattour, 2017;Siegenthaler et al, 2017). Previous records show that H. mammata in the NE-Atlantic attain bigger sizes than in the Mediterranean and the largest in the Portuguese coast, with Peniche, a highly productive marine area, presenting the previous largest documented specimen, with 43 cm (González-Wangüemert et al, 2016).…”

“…Depending on habitat type, densities of deposit-feeders may be higher in shallow-waters, but may vary in depth, for reasons like reduced exposure from UV radiation (Domínguez-Godino and González-Wangüemert, 2020). A vegetated cover can be the main driver for aggregation, as it provides shelter (Dissanayake and Stefansson, 2012;Navarro et al, 2014;Siegenthaler et al, 2015Siegenthaler et al, , 2017 or the opposite (Tuya et al, 2006), but in some cases the preference can change according to life-cycle stage (Mercier et al, 2000;Hamel et al, 2001;Eriksson et al, 2012;Aydin, 2019a). Rocky reefs can also be preferred when compared to adjacent areas without rocky substrate, offering more complex habitats, regarding food sources or shelter (Zhou and Shirley, 1996;Džeroski and Drumm, 2003;Mendes et al, 2006).…”

“…However, and in spite of the ecological relevance of these species and risk of overexploitation, these traits are fairly described for the most relevant species in the trade market (e.g., Mercier et al, 2000;Shiell, 2007;Morgan, 2011;Dissanayake and Stefansson, 2012;Purcell et al, 2012Purcell et al, , 2016Kashio et al, 2016) but for others are sparse and scarce. Emergent target species (from the Mediterranean and NE-Atlantic) are less studied, or not at all, or have a strong regional or habitat focus (e.g., Simunovic et al, 2000;Navarro et al, 2014;Siegenthaler et al, 2015Siegenthaler et al, , 2017Marquet et al, 2017;Aydin, 2019b;Boncagni et al, 2019;Domínguez-Godino and González-Wangüemert, 2020). The introduction of these species in the international trade markets is the result of a stock depletion of traditional commercial species, mainly from the Indo-Pacific, increasing demand and consequent fisheries expansion to new areas (Purcell et al, 2013;Conand, 2017;González-Wangüemert et al, 2018;Dereli and Aydın, 2021).…”

“…Its geographical distribution covers the NE-Atlantic where it has its northern limits at the Bay of Biscay and southern limits at the meridional Macaronesian islands including the insular regions of Madeira, Azores and Canary islands, the north-African coast, occurring also in the Mediterranean sea (Tortonese, 1965;Borrero-Pérez et al, 2009). Still, the knowledge on ecological traits for this species is scarce, limited and regional, and insufficient to establish stock management policies, although relevant efforts have been put into it (Navarro et al, 2013;González-Wangüemert et al, 2014Aydin and Erkan, 2015;Mustapha and Hattour, 2017;Siegenthaler et al, 2017;Azevedo E Silva et al, 2018;Félix et al, 2018;Simões et al, 2018;Aydin, 2019aAydin, ,b, 2020Sousa et al, 2020;Venâncio et al, 2021;Azevedo e Silva et al, 2021). There are several ecological details missing, either to allow management and control of harvest activities or for future mitigation actions involving population recovery or replenishment.…”

Breeding and larval development ofHolothuria mammata, a new target species for aquaculture

“…As it was explained previously, H. mammata (Grube, 1840) Wang€ uemert et al, 2013;Siegenthaler, C anovas, & Gonz alez-Wang€ uemert, 2017). H. mammata has a seasonal reproductive pattern, spawning mainly in summer and autumn (Marquet, Conand, Power, Can ario, & Gonz alez-Wang€ uemert, 2017).…”