• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to investigate the growth rate and the optimal stocking density of sea cucumbers. Grow-out was studied in situ by conducting a follow-up survey using visible implant elastomer (VIE) tags. The rearing systems were made of polypropylene pipe for the frames and netting. The experiment ran for 70 days near Yeosu, Korea in the water depth of about 7 m. A total of 576 sea cucumbers which have three groups of body sizes (small: 5.15, medium: 12.34 and large: 23.26 g) were used. The five groups of stocking densities (150, 300, 450, 600 and $850g/m^2$) in rearing system for sea cucumber were considered. Sea cucumbers were fed a mixed diet (mud, mineral, fish meal, etc.). The feed was supplied to 10% of their body wet weight once every 7 days. The survival rate (73%) of sea cucumber in $850g/m^2$ was lower than those of other density groups ($150g/m^2$: 89%, $300g/m^2$: 84%, $450g/m^2$: 78% and $600g/m^2$: 86%). The survival rate of medium size group was higher than those of small and large groups regardless of the density (P<0.05). Most of density groups have no significant difference except for $850g/m^2$ (P>0.05). The growth rate of small size group ($0.63%day^{-1}$) was higher than those of medium ($0.38%day^{-1}$) and large ($0.34%day^{-1}$) group regardless of the density (P<0.05). The threshold water temperature was $11.0^{\circ}C$ for sea cucumber growth in winter season.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1006-1013
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• 2016

The observed external injury, movement and survival rate according to storage and recovery of the juvenile sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus(wet weight $1.0{\pm}0.2g$). The investigated application possibility of external injury(grade I~IV) and movement variation(buccal tentacle, motion, obversion, movement) for estimate of survival rate. The survival rate was observed through the recovery after storage of the sea cucumber in various water temperature(10, 15, 20, $25^{\circ}C$) and hours(3, 6, 12, 24 hour). Grade of external injury lower in the 24 hour experiment group of $20^{\circ}C$ water temperature and 12 hour experiment group of $25^{\circ}C$ water temperature. Buccal tentacle and movement strong related survival rate and external injury. In the case of $20^{\circ}C$ water temperature, survival rate was observed decrease 24 hours experiment. $25^{\circ}C$ water temperature was high to 6 hours but 12 hours experiment group observed decrease of the survival rate. The lethal time(LT10) of the juvenile sea cucumber was 15.73 hours($20^{\circ}C$) and 5.57 hours($25^{\circ}C$). The results of this study provided various measurement method of survival rate according to transportation of the juvenile sea cucumber for release.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2022

Sea cucumber, Aposticopus japonicus, is a major invertebrate species in the coastal regions of Korea. To evaluate the short-term stress levels according to the releasing methods, this study investigated the gene expression profiles of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. When the juvenile sea cucumbers were packed in the vinyl bag with oxygen followed by transportation for 30 min or air-exposed for 1 h, the HSP90 gene expression levels in the experimental groups were significantly increased compared to those of the control groups (transported group, p=0.001; air-exposed group, p=0.032). The experimental group at 6 h post-release by seed-spreading method and at 2~6 h post-release by underwater hose-releasing method on board a fishing boat showed that the levels of HSP90 gene expression were not statistically significant but decreased slightly compared to the control group (seed-spreading group, p=0.069; hose-releasing group, p=0.093). On the other hand, the HSP90 gene expression showed an increasing pattern as the time passed (~6 h) after underwater release of juvenile sea cucumbers by divers (p=0.061). These results suggest that HSP90 gene expression can be used to investigate short-term stress response and effective releasing methods of juvenile sea cucumbers.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.1360-1365
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• 2013

Juvenile sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus(wet weight $1.0{\pm}0.2g$, n=250) acclimated to environmental conditions($17^{\circ}C$, 33 psu) during 4 weeks for observation of survival and structural variation of integumentary system according to various salinity concentration. After that, it was exposed 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 psu in 96h, and recovered during 7 days. In this results, The 96-h lethal concentration(LC50) for sea cucumber was a salinity of 21.05 psu. Integumentary system of the sea cucumber exposed to below the salinity of 20 psu mainly observed thickness reduction of epidermal layer, nucleus condensation of epithelial cells, decreased of mucous cells and loose arrangement of connective tissue in dermal layer. Integumentary system of the sea cucumber exposed a salinity of 40 psu mainly observed nucleus hypertrophy of epithelial cells, increase of mucous cells and tight arrangement of connective tissue in dermal layer. Also, observed secretory cells showing the alcian blue(pH 2.5) positive. During 96-h exposure, this cells decreased after increase below the salinity of 20 psu but increased in the salinity of 40 psu compared with 25-35 psu.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2009

A factorial feeding trial of different levels of three carbohydrate sources (wheat flour, $\alpha$-potato starch, and sodium alginate) was conducted to determine proper sources and levels of dietary carbohydrate for juvenile sea cucumbers. Three replicate groups of juvenile sea cucumbers (770 mg average weight) were fed the experimental diets once a day for 10 weeks. After feeding trial, survival of sea cucumbers was not significantly different between diets. The body weight of sea cucumbers was significantly (P<0.01) affected by both source and level of dietary carbohydrate, tending to decrease as dietary carbohydrate level increased. Body weight of sea cucumbers fed a 25% wheat flour diet was the highest but was not significantly different from that of sea cucumbers fed diet containing 10% wheat flour with 15% sodium alginate (P>0.05). No significant differences were observed in contents of moisture, crude protein, crude lipid and ash of sea cucumbers among dietary treatments. These results suggest that sea cucumbers utilize wheat flour and sodium alginate more efficiently than they do $\alpha$-potato starch, and that a formulated diet containing 43-60% carbohydrate may be suitable for juvenile sea cucumber culture.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2010

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary lipid sources on the growth and fatty acid composition of juvenile sea cucumber. For 12 weeks, three replicate groups of sea cucumber (average weight 1.4 g) were fed one of three diets, containing squid liver oil (SLO), soybean oil (SO), or linseed oil (LO) as a dietary lipid source, or a control diet (CON) without added lipids. Sea cucumber survival was not significantly different among dietary treatments (P>0.05). The highest weight gain was observed in sea cucumber fed the SLO diet, whereas the weight gain of sea cucumber fed the SO diet was the lowest among dietary treatments (P<0.05). No significant differences were found in the moisture, crude protein, crude lipid, and ash contents of whole sea cucumber body among dietary treatments (P>0.05). Concentrations of 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 were significantly higher in sea cucumber fed the SLO diet than in those fed on the other diets. The highest 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 contents were observed in sea cucumber fed the SO and LO diets, respectively. The results of this study suggest that squid liver oil could be used as a good lipid source in formulated diets for juvenile sea cucumber.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.202-213
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• 2014

The sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, is becoming an important aquaculture species in China, Japan and Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the biological performance of a tubular type of subsurface cage for sea cucumber grow-out by in-situ tests. The cage structure was constructed of PP (polypropylene) frames and PP tubes (${\phi}130mm{\times}24pieces$). A set of tests were conducted at a depth of 15 m near Seosaeng, Ulsan, Korea for 295 days (23 July, 2012 to 13 May, 2013). A total of 155 sea cucumbers were used and fed a mixed diet containing mud, mineral, wheat, fish meal, etc (3% of their body weight). At the end of the experiments, sea cucumber showed a higher survival rate in feed shelter (77.14%) rather than no feed shelter (64.71%). The specific growth rate (SGR) of sea cucumbers in feed condition (0.04% $day^{-1}$) was higher than that of no feed culture animals (-0.49% $day^{-1}$) during total experimental periods. The result was able to find a no significance difference in survival rate but a significance difference in SGR under feed and no feed treatments.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.264-275
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• 2022

A non-destructive environmental DNA protocol for the genetic analysis of sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) resources DNA was established. Among the several commercial DNA extraction kits, the DNeasy^® Plant Mini Kit was selected as the best choice to obtain the high-quality genomic DNAs from the mucous sea cucumber. As the temperature and incubation time increased, the amount of extracted environmental DNA was also large, but it was judged that the increased amount did not affect as much as 2-3 times. Therefore, these conditions were not considered to be the main factors to consider in actual environmental DNA extraction. However, the amount of seawater relative to the size of the sample was judged as a major consideration, and a sufficient amount of environmental DNA for analysis was secured when stored within 1 min while stirring the volume of seawater corresponding to the total sea cucumber weight (g). In securing the environmental DNA of sea cucumbers, the mortality rate of sea cucumbers in all experiments was 0, and it was judged that the effects of sea cucumbers were not significant through this treatment. Through the results of this study, sea cucumber DNA research, which has been conducted in a destructive method, can be conducted non-destructively through environmental DNA analysis. Through this study, we have secured a standard protocol that can successfully extract the sea cucumber DNA through environmental DNA. It is not only excellent in terms of time and cost of traditional DNA analysis method currently used, but it is completely non-destructive in the ecosystem of the survey area. It is believed that the system can be transformed in a way that does not affect it. However, it is thought that various standard protocols should be established considering the characteristics of each type.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.494-499
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• 2017

This study evaluated the abundance of fecal coliforms in oysters Crassostrea gigas, sea squirts Halocynthia roretzi and sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus in fisheries along the coast of Korea in 2014, and investigated the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from these fishery products. The ranges of fecal coliforms found in oysters, sea squirts and sea cucumbers were <18-20, <18-330 and <18-3,300 MPN (most probable number)/100 g, respectively. Sea squirts contained the greatest range of E. coli (<20-140 MPN/100 g), followed by sea cucumbers (<20-130 MPN/100 g) and oysters (<20-20 MPN/100 g). A total of 26 strains of E. coli were isolated from 34 sea squirt, 25 sea cucumber and 13 oyster samples. Strains thus isolated were tested for their susceptibility to 22 antimicrobial agents used in Korea for medical or veterinary therapy. E. coli isolates showed the greatest resistance to ampicillin (84.6%), followed by trimethoprim (34.6%), nalidixic acid (34.6%), tetracycline (30.8%), pipemidic acid (26.9%), streptomycin (23.1%), chloramphenicol (23.1%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (23.1%), and gentamicin (15.4%). Resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent was present in 88.5% of E. coli isolates. Of the 26 isolated, six strains (23.1%) were resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1753-1762
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• 2017

Sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) is a popular seafood source in Asia, including South Korea, and its consumption has recently increased with recognition of its medicinal properties. However, because raw sea cucumber contains various microbes, its ingestion can cause foodborne illness. Therefore, analysis of the microbiota in the whole body of sea cucumber can extend our understanding of foodborne illness caused by microorganisms and help to better manage products. We collected 40 sea cucumbers from four different sites in August and November, which are known as the maximum production areas in Korea. The microbiota was analyzed by an Illumina MiSeq system, and bacterial amounts were quantified by real-time PCR. The diversity and bacterial amounts in sea cucumber were higher in August than in November. Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria were common dominant classes in all samples. However, the microbiota composition differed according to sampling time and site. Staphylococcus warneri and Propionibacterium acnes were commonly detected potential pathogens in August and November samples, respectively. The effect of experimental Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection on the indigenous microbiota of sea cucumber was analyzed at different temperatures, revealing clear alterations of Psychrobacter and Moraxella; thus, these shifts can be used as indicators for monitoring infection of sea cucumber. Although further studies are needed to clarify and understand the virulence and mechanisms of the identified pathogens of sea cucumber, our study provides a valuable reference for determining the potential of foodborne illness caused by sea cucumber ingestion and to develop monitoring strategies of products using microbiota information.