Bioactivity as an Options Value of Sea Cucumbers in the Egyptian Red Sea

Abstract

The utility of a species can be divided into its direct, indirect, and options values. In the marine environment, direct consumptive values predominate and often lead to overexploitation at the expense of significant options values derived through bioprospecting for natural products. We surveyed the waters of the Egyptian Red Sea coast (Gulf of Aqaba [north] and the Red Sea [south]) for species of sea cucumbers and analyzed extracts from species for a range of bioactivities with potential biomedical applications. All habitat types were surveyed within these regions. We found 22 species of sea cucumber of which two, Holothuria fuscogilva and Holothuria flavomaculata, were recorded in Egypt for the first time. Although none of the species identified were unique to the Gulf of Aqaba, 10 species were only found in the Red Sea sector. Bioassay results showed that although no species had antibacterial activity, most extracts exhibited activity against Candida and Leishmania but were most active against a LoVo mammalian carcinoma cell line. Our most significant finding was the intraspecific variation in bioactivity in individuals collected from different habitat types and sectors of the coast. This variation may reflect the effect of environment on secondary metabolite production or may indicate significant genetic diversity between populations within a species. Our results indicate a potentially significant options value to sea cucumbers through bioprospecting. Given the importance of economic development in countries such as Egypt and the perceived low conservation value of invertebrates such as sea cucumbers, the linking of these factors to conservation is vital for the maintenance and sustainable exploitation of these animals.

Abundance and Diversity of Holothuroids in Shallow Habitats of the Northern Red Sea

“…These are not contiguous with the seaport area, suggesting that other factors, beyond phosphate pollution radiating out from the port, determine the abundance of this species. South of Eilat, this species is rare [35,41]. Thus, the reasons for the overall limited distribution of this species and very patchy local abundance around Eilat are as yet unexplained.…”

“…These studies show that overfishing has decimated populations of commercially valuable holothuroids and suggest that they will be slow to recover (also see [34,35]). In addition to the grim insights regarding overfishing, these studies provide valuable information on the diversity and abundance of all holothuroid species in the various habitats and regions of the Red Sea [32,33,35]. The gulf of Aqaba opens in the south into the north of the Red Sea.…”

“…More recently, fisheries (both regulated and unregulated) were developed in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, attended by research aimed at identifying and monitoring the sea cucumber populations [30][31][32][33]. These studies show that overfishing has decimated populations of commercially valuable holothuroids and suggest that they will be slow to recover (also see [34,35]). In addition to the grim insights regarding overfishing, these studies provide valuable information on the diversity and abundance of all holothuroid species in the various habitats and regions of the Red Sea [32,33,35].…”

Study on Nutritional Value of Instant Sea Cucumber Processed by the New Processing Approach

“…There are about more than 1100 kinds of recorded species of sea cucumber all over the world (Conand and Byrne, 1993). Sea cucumber is a kind of high quality health seafood with high-protein, low-fat, low-cholesterol and various bioactive constituents (Lawrence et al, 2010;Bordbar et al, 2011;Mamelona et al, 2009), including collagen, acidic polysaccharoses, saponins, cerebroside and so on and the content of collagen and acidic polysaccharoses is higher. Meanwhile, some studies found that these bioactive constituents had numerous functions, such as antitumor, anticoagulation, anti-aging, immunity enhancement, antifungal properties, as well as contributed in blood fat reduction, diabetes control and rheumatoid arthritis prevention and treatment (Bordbar et al, 2011).…”

Optimization of Key Technology for Instant Sea Cucumber Processing through Fuzzy Evaluation and Response Surface Methodology

“…More than 1,100 species of sea cucumber exist worldwide; of these species, about 140 kinds are found in China and 20 kinds are used as food sources (Conand and Byrne, 1993). Sea cucumber is composed of high protein, low fat and low cholesterol contents and highly bioactive ingredients (Lawrence et al, 2010;Bordbar et al, 2011;Mamelona et al, 2009), including saponins, cerebrosides (La et al, 2012), collagen and acid polysaccharides. These bioactive components exhibit anti-tumor, anticoagulation, antiaging, anti-fungal, hypolipidemic and anti-diabetes properties; these components can also alleviate pain, improve immunity, prevent and treat rheumatoid arthritis and induce other beneficial effects (Bordbar et al, 2011).…”