This is a neat idea for not just for finfish farming, but for things such as abalone?
| Aquaculture |
| Volume 375, Number 3 (January 2013) |
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Growth and food source of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus cultured below fish cages — Potential for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture |
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Authors: |
Hisashi Yokoyama |
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Author Affiliations: |
| no affiliations available |
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Source: |
Aquaculture, Volume 375, Number 3 (January 2013) |
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Page Numbers: |
28 – 38 |
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Available Full Text: |
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Subscription Required to view full text |
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PDF |
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Unknown |
| Location: |
Publisher’s Site |
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Publisher’s Site |
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Abstract: |
In order to examine the efficiency of co-culturing fish with the Japanese common sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, field cultivation experiments were conducted in Gokasho Bay, central Japan. I cultured A. japonicusjuveniles below a fish cage and at a control station for 238days, monitored the wet weight, and analyzed its stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (d13C, d15N) together with potential food sources, and found that (1) juveniles cultured below fish cages exhibited high survivorship (96%) and significantly higher specific growth rate (1.9%) than those at the control site (1.2%), and (2) the juveniles had significantly reduced d13C values (mean±SD=-19.1±0.3‰ vs. -17.5±0.4‰ at the control station), suggesting the incorporation of C3plant material in fish feed through fish feces and settling organic matter. All sea cucumbers which were further cultured for additional 307days below fish cages grew to the marketable size (range and mean wet weight=142–181g, 160g, n=9). In order to evaluate the effect of density on growth, 6 culture vessels, in which 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 juveniles of A. japonicuswere stocked, were maintained below the fish cage over 118days. The results showed that the final mean weight of A. japonicusdecreased from 6.68g to 0.94g as the density increased with a large variation of weight at the end of the experiment (coefficient of variation=52.1–62.2%), suggesting that there was competition between individuals for a limited food supply and there were intraspecific effects on the growth. This study shows the possibility of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture in which A. japonicusis cultured in the water column below fish cages, because the survival and growth of the sea cucumbers were enhanced due to the ability to avoid predator interactions and adverse environmental conditions as well as nutritional feed supply from the fish cage. |
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Citation: |
Hisashi Yokoyama . Growth and food source of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicuscultured below fish cages — Potential for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. Aquaculture, Volume 375, Number 3 (January 2013), pp. 28-38, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4AA3B4FBC103DDE91C6F> |
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URL: |
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4AA3B4FBC103DDE91C6F |
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