Evaluation of hatchery production from captive and wild-caught sandfish (Holothuria scabra jaeger, 1833) broodstocks

Abstract

The overexploitation of natural populations of sea cucumbers is a threat to the sustainability of sea cucumber aquaculture operations reliant on wild-caught broodstocks. Maintaining wild-caught broodstocks in captivity ensures continuous availability of suitable broodstocks. However, it remains unclear if captive broodstocks are suitable for use in hatchery production. This study evaluates hatchery production of sandfish (Holothuria scabra Jaeger, 1833) using captive broodstock, maintained in a pond for 1 year, compared to newly wild-caught broodstock. At the end of the 40-day hatchery cycle, lengths of juvenile sandfish resulting from the wild-caught (3.26 ± 0.13 mm) and captive (3.28 ± 0.16 mm) broodstocks were comparable (P = 0.92). Survival curves of larval and juvenile sandfish differed between the two broodstock sources (P < 0.01), owing to differences in the onset of exponential mortality. However, survival was comparable for juvenile sandfish derived from the wild-caught (1.23 ± 0.27 %) and captive (1.34 ± 0.73 %) broodstocks (P = 0.89) at the end of the hatchery cycle (40-days post-fertilisation). The results of the present study demonstrate that captive sandfish broodstock supported hatchery production comparable to that of wild-caught broodstock.