Ocean nursery rearing of sea cucumber Holothuria scabra early juveniles in hapa nets at different stocking densities

Abstract

Sea cucumbers are high value marine species with very high potential in aquaculture as profitable industry. Depletion of this species in the past years prompted researchers to indulge into various researches to maximize aquaculture opportunities of this species. In this study, sea cucumbers were subjected to ocean rearing to compare the survival and growth performance at different stocking densities arranged following the Randomized Complete Blocked Design. This focused on the growth performance and survival of Sea cucumber Holothuria scabra early juveniles reared in hapa nets at 250 ind m -3, 500 ind m -3, and 750 ind m -3, respectively. Results of the study revealed that Treatment I (250 ind m-3) obtained the highest growth and survival showing significantly difference (p