Improving inland culture performance of juvenile sea cucumbers, Holothuria scabra, by co-culture with red tilapia

Abstract

Holothuria scabra are tropical sea cucumbers that are widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and are considered to be a delicacy in China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Since they can be easily harvested in the wild, populations in sea beds around Thailand have been decreasing. This problem has led to the construction of hatcheries and growout facilities in order to effectively culture these high-priced species. However, there is a disadvantage in farm-grown production of these species due to its slow growth as it usually takes two years from hatching to marketable size. To increase its growth rate, we have tried co-culturing H. scabra with red tilapia under 30 ppt seawater. We found that growth and survival of the sea cucumbers was significantly higher when being co-cultured than when being cultured alone, while the growth rates of red tilapia showed no change or showed an increase. This co-culture would be a strategy to improve inland culture performance of H. scabra, during which income from growing red tilapia is achieved.