Many species of tropical sea cucumbers in many countries in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are being over-exploited for processing into bêche-de-mer (dried form) 5,8,18 . As the demand for sea cucumbers increases and fishery stocks dwindle in many areas of these countries, there is a growing demand to produce sea cucumbers by aquaculture and stock enhancement using juveniles produced in the hatchery. There is also growing interest in co-culturing sea cucumbers alongside other organisms to utilize organic debris and thus mitigate eutrophication within and around the aquaculture facilities 4,22,33,37,46 . To this end, an increasing number of studies have recently been performed to develop techniques for hatchery, aquaculture and stock enhancement of sea cucumbers, especially sandfish, Holothuria scabra, the most valued species of tropical sea cucumbers 3,4,28,37 . The hatchery production of H. scabra seeds has got underway in countries, such as Vietnam, India, New Caledonia and the Philippines 1,11,36 , but the high mortality and slow growth rate of cultured juveniles have been problematic. Despite the various food items used in broodstock maintenance and juvenile production and grow-out of H. scabra, including Spirulina spp, Schizochytrium spp, Navicula spp, homogenized Sargassum spp, ground shrimp feed, shrimp head meal, soya bean powder, rice bran, chicken manure and seagrass powder 1,3,11,36 , juveniles often grow much faster in sea pens or earthen ponds where no artificial feeding is conducted. Information about H. scabra diets is indispensable in improving hatchery, aquaculture and reseeding techniques, as well as monitoring environmental conditions for wild stocks.H. scabra are benthic detritus feeders, which ingest muddy sandy sediment and assimilate the organic matter
AbstractTo provide a basis for a stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio (δ 13 C / δ 15 N) analysis to determine the assimilated organic matter in sea cucumber, Holothuria scabra, diet-tissue fractionations were experimentally determined by mono-feeding rearing with diatom. While δ 15