Assessing movement of the California sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus in response to organically enriched areas typical of aquaculture sites
Date
2016
Authors
van Dam-Bates, Paul
Curtis, Daniel L.
Cowen, Laura L.E.
Cross, Stephen F.
Pearce, Christopher M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Assessing movement of the California sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus in response to organically enriched areas typical of aquaculture sites
Abstract
An increasing global demand for sea cucumbers has led to interest in benthic ranching
of the California sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus beneath existing aquaculture sites
in British Columbia, Canada, where high levels of total organic matter (TOM) are typical. The
objective of the present study was to investigate movement of P. californicus in relation to areas of
increased organic content to assess the feasibility of sea cucumber ranching beneath existing
aquaculture sites. A laboratory experiment using adult sea cucumbers showed that P. californicus
changed their foraging behaviour based on available amounts of TOM, moving more randomly in
high-TOM (~8.0%) areas and more directly in low-TOM (~1.4%) ones. They also moved more
rapidly in areas with high TOM than in those with low TOM. As long as animals were exposed to
high TOM, they did not abandon random movement. Because of this behaviour, aquaculture
tenures may retain a population of cultured individuals, but could also attract wild individuals
from the surrounding area.
Description
Keywords
Aquaculture, California sea cucumber, Foraging, Movement, Parastichopus californicus, Sea ranching, Holothurian
Citation
van Dam-Bates, P., Curtis, D. L., Cowen, L. L. E., Cross, S. F., & Pearce, C. M. (2016). Assessing movement of the California sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus in response to organically enriched areas typical of aquaculture sites. Aquaculture Environment Interactions, 8(67-76). https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00156