Effect of water temperature on diel feeding, locomotion behaviour and digestive physiology in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Abstract

This study used controlled laboratory conditions to directly assess the role of water temperature in controlling diel feeding and locomotion behaviours, and digestive physiology, in the sea cucumber The results revealed that both the proportion of feeding individuals and ingestion rate were highest at 16°C. Regardless of water temperature, sea cucumbers appeared to be nocturnal and their peak feeding activity occurred at 00:00 h to 04:00 h. Tentacle insertion rate was not significantly correlated with water temperature (<24°C). In all temperature treatments except 24°C, the proportion of moving sea cucumbers was also observed to be higher at night than during the day. The water temperature above thermal threshold (24°C) for aestivation may alter the diel locomotion rhythm. The highest lipase and amylase activities were both observed at 20°C. The highest activities of lipase and amylase at all temperature treatments were observed at 22:00 h to 02:00 h, which was slightly earlier than the feeding peak. In conclusion, even in total darkness, showed more active feeding and moving activities, and higher digestive enzyme activities, at night than during the day. These results demonstrated that diel feeding and locomotion behaviours, at least in the short term, were not controlled by light or low water temperature (<24°C) but by an endogenous rhythm, and had the ability to optimize the digestive function for the coming feeding peak. These findings should provide valuable information for the development of the aquaculture of this species.

The Effect of Melatonin on Locomotor Behavior and Muscle Physiology in the Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

“…There are two reasons for why the injection made at this time point: (1). Sea cucumbers are very sensitive to lights (Dong et al, 2010; Sun et al, 2018), and their physiological status and activities are totally adjusted to dark at 3 h after turning to dark. (2).…”

Effects of kelp residues fermented with probiotics on the culture of sea cucumber,Apostichopus japonicus

“…It was generally accepted that the digestive enzyme activities of sea cucumber were affected by many factors such as food composition, culturing temperature, water salinity, intestinal microflora, and so on (Gao, Yang, Xu, Wang, & Liu, ; Sun et al, ; Yuan et al, ; Zhao et al, ). In this study, it were found that the activities of amylase, cellulase and alginase of the sea cucumber significantly increased when fed with fermented kelp residue, while protease activity had no significant increase.…”

Quality evaluation of indoor‐ and outdoor‐cultured sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus ) seedlings: Insight from survival and immune performance in response to combined stress of hyperthermia and hyposalinity

“…Previous studies regarding effects of temperature or salinity stress on sea cucumbers have been extensively reported, primarily focusing on oxygen consumption, energy metabolism, molecular response, etc. (Bai et al, ; Dong et al, ; Kuhnhold et al, ; Meng et al, ; Ning et al, ; Sun et al, ). However, the more practically combined effects of temperature and salinity on A .…”

“…Temperature and salinity are considered as the main physiological factors affecting aquatic animals in ecological systems (Kinne, , ). Previous studies have demonstrated that temperature (Dong, Dong, Tian, Wang, & Zhang, ; Dong, Ji, Meng, Dong, & Sun, ; Kuhnhold et al, ; Ning et al, ; Sun et al, ) and salinity (Bai et al, ; Geng et al, ; Meng, Dong, Dong, Yu, & Zhou, ) are closely related to growth, behaviour, survival and physiological metabolism of sea cucumber A . japonicus .…”