Pimsai Sithisak, Pattira Pongtippatee, and Boonsirm Withyachumnarnkul

pp. 501 - 505

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.