Effects of artificial reefs on selectivity and behaviors of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicas: New insights into the pond culture

Hu, Fangyuan; Ding, Peng; Yu, Yushi; Wen, Bin; Cui, Zhouping; Yang, Mingfang; Chi, Xiaomei; Sun, Jiangnan; Jia, Luo; Sun, Zhihui; Zuo, Rantao; Chang, Yaqing; Zhao, Chong

doi:10.1016/j.aqrep.2021.100842

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Actual dive surveys in artificial reef areas also have revealed this phenomenon; i.e., not every artificial reef was inhabited by A. japonicas, and the larger the number of artificial reefs, the more pronounced this phenomenon became. This also supports, to some extent, that the size of individual shelters does not need to be as large as it could be and that there is a size of shelter that has a high number of A. japonicas per unit shelter area and a high utilization of the whole shelter [8].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Artificial reefs are usually believed to support more density levels of A. japonicas than natural reefs [5,6]. The use of artificial reefs to build shelters is currently an important technology for the culture and stock enhancement of sea cucumbers [7,8]. However, the shelter capacity of artificial reefs and its influencing factors are still not well understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Shelter Capacity of Artificial Reefs for Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicas Is Influenced by Water Flow and Food Resources in Laboratory Experiments

Yan,

Sun,

Yan

et al. 2024

JMSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Artificial reefs have been advocated and implemented as management tools for aquaculture, species conservation and habitat replacement. However, the shelter capacity of artificial reefs and its influencing factors are still not well understood. In this study, we identified factors that may limit the shelter capacity of artificial reefs for sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicas) with a laboratory experiment. We investigated how water flow and food availability affect the shelter capacity and conducted shelter utilization experiments to determine whether sea cucumber sheltering behavior was density dependent. The results revealed that shelter capacity of artificial reefs in high velocity is significantly higher than that of artificial reefs in low velocity or no velocity. The artificial reefs that were provided food had significantly higher shelter capacity than those that did not have food. The densities did not affect the sheltering capacity of artificial reefs in the laboratory experiment. There was a logarithmic relationship between the shelter capacity and shelter availability assessed by the exposed surface area of the artificial reefs. In conclusion, abundant food resources and high water flow may have a positive effect on the shelter capacity of artificial reefs.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shelter Capacity of Artificial Reefs for Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicas Is Influenced by Water Flow and Food Resources in Laboratory Experiments

Yan,

Sun,

Yan

et al. 2024

JMSE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These findings suggest that artificial reefs greatly improve the movement-related behaviors of sea cucumbers and probably contribute to their survival in pond culture. Artificial reefs are commonly used to provide habitats 4 , 13 and promote food utilization 23 , 24 for sea cucumbers in pond culture. Seeding stressed sea cucumbers onto artificial reefs is a cost-effective method to increase the production efficiency of pond culture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial reefs reduce the adverse effects of mud and transport stress on behaviors of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Wang

Tian

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Poor survival of seeds reduces the production efficiency of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in pond culture. We investigated the effects of sea mud on the movement-related behaviors of A. japonicus with different body sizes. Mud significantly decreased crawling behavior and wall-reaching behavior in small seeds (~ 1 g of body weight), but not in the large ones (~ 2.5 g of body weight). These behaviors were significantly greater in the large seeds of A. japonicus than those in the small individuals when they were both on the mud. This clearly suggests that mud has negative effects on the movement-related behaviors of small seeds, but not on large individuals. We further assessed the effects of inevitable transport stress on the movement-related behaviors of A. japonicus on mud. Significantly poorer performances in crawling behavior, wall-reaching behavior and struggling behavior were observed in stressed A. japonicus (both sizes) than those in unstressed groups. These new findings indicate that transport stress further increases the adverse effects on the movement-related behaviors of A. japonicus on mud. Moreover, we investigated whether adverse effects can be reduced when individuals are directly seeded onto artificial reefs. Crawling behavior, wall-reaching behavior and struggling behavior in stressed A. japonicus (both sizes) seeded onto artificial reefs were significantly greater than those on mud, whereas artificial reefs did not significantly improve the crawling and struggling behaviors of unstressed small seeds. These results collectively indicate that mud and transport stress show negative impacts on the movement-related behaviors of sea cucumbers. Artificial reefs greatly reduce these adverse effects and probably contribute to improving the production efficiency of sea cucumbers in pond culture.

show abstract

“…Hammond (1982) observed a similar behaviour for Holothuria thomasi, suggesting that shelters with close access to large sand patches were preferred. These observations could be incorporated into sea ranching of sea cucumbers, where provision of artificial structures with narrow openings are used to promote site fidelity, with shelter depth tailored to the size of animals being grown (Hu et al 2021;Tian et al 2023).…”

Section: Refuging and Homing Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement dynamics, sediment turnover and sheltering behaviours of the nocturnal coral reef sea cucumber, Stichopus cf. monotuberculatus

Gray,

Byrne,

Clements

et al. 2023

Coral Reefs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal movement and feeding studies shed light on ecological roles and can inform management strategies for fished species. However, the feeding and movement of nocturnal sea cucumbers have been rarely studied. We determined the movement dynamics, feeding ecology and sheltering behaviour of the nocturnal Stichopus cf. monotuberculatus (dragonfish) at One Tree Reef and Heron Island Reef on the southern Great Barrier Reef. The short-term movement of individual sea cucumbers were tracked, and sediment defecation rates were measured. Displacement rates averaged 3–33 cm h−1 across the four sites, with the sea cucumbers moving more slowly approaching sunrise and within patches of organically rich sediment. The movement paths were moderately tortuous, with larger sea cucumbers moving along straighter paths. Rates of sediment turnover averaged 7.8 g h−1 and were greatest for larger individuals. The faecal casts were organically richer and composed of finer grains than the ambient surface sediments, implying that S. cf. monotuberculatus avoids consuming coarse sediments and feeds on nutritionally rich particles. The sea cucumbers sheltered under hard reef substrata and moved non-directionally on the seascape, with a few individuals homing back to their original refuges. The affinity to reef substrata and short nightly net displacements of S. cf. monotuberculatus have implications for the spatial management of this and other similar species. Larger individuals occupied deeper refuges, implying that projected declines in substratum rugosity on coral reefs due to climate change could impact the size structure of sea cucumber populations, with implications for fisheries.

show abstract

Effects of artificial reefs on selectivity and behaviors of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicas: New insights into the pond culture

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

Shelter Capacity of Artificial Reefs for Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicas Is Influenced by Water Flow and Food Resources in Laboratory Experiments

Shelter Capacity of Artificial Reefs for Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicas Is Influenced by Water Flow and Food Resources in Laboratory Experiments

Artificial reefs reduce the adverse effects of mud and transport stress on behaviors of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Movement dynamics, sediment turnover and sheltering behaviours of the nocturnal coral reef sea cucumber, Stichopus cf. monotuberculatus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About