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Holothuria

About: Holothuria is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 362 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4982 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present paper characterizes, for the first time, the diet of the Harlequin crab Lissocarcinus orbicularis, an obligate symbiotic crab that associates with sea cucumbers (holothuroids) belonging to the genera Thelenota, Bohadschia and Holothuria, suggesting a shift of the food source as crabs grow larger.
Abstract: The present paper characterizes, for the first time, the diet of the Harlequin crab Lissocarcinus orbicularis, an obligate symbiotic crab that associates with sea cucumbers (holothuroids) belonging to the genera Thelenota, Bohadschia and Holothuria. These tropical holothuroids host a rich symbiotic community in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean of which the Harlequin crab is the best known. The diet of L. orbicularis was characterized by analyzing the microscopic, molecular and isotopic signatures obtained from its gastric content. The presence of sea cucumber ossicles in the gastric mills of the crabs suggests that symbionts eat the superficial integument of their host and this was supported by the fact that Holothuroid DNA was detected in the stomach of L. orbicularis after DGGE and sequencing of the 18S rDNA gene. The stable isotopic δ13C and δ15N values of crab tissues were compared with diverse potential food sources including three holothuroids, three algae, one sea grass as well as the organic matter contained in the water column, in the sediment, and the second most abundant symbiont, the polychaete Gastrolepidia clavigera. The low δ15N values of crabs suggests that the crabs do not exclusively feed on sea cucumber tissue but assimilate diverse food sources such as sea grasses and organic matter contained in sediment that have similar δ13C values. There were no differences between the feeding of males and females but there was a positive correlation between the carapace length and the stable isotopic values indicating a shift of the food source as crabs grow larger.

16 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was found that the hemolytic activity of the coelomic fluid of Paracentrotus lividus against vertebrate erythrocytes corresponds to a thermo‐labile, calcinum‐dependent protein.
Abstract: The hemolytic activity of the coelomic fluid of Paracentrotus lividus against vertebrate erythrocytes was investigated. It was found that this activity corresponds to a thermo‐labile, calcinum‐dependent protein. The chemico‐physical and biological properties of this protein are compared to those of the counterparts in other echinoderm hemolytic systems. No immunological cross‐reaction could be demonstrated between P. lividus and Holothuria polii hemolysin.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Significant relationships between accumulated metal(loid)s that changed by tissues and sea cucumber species were observed and the most inconsistent element in terms of correlations was the gut Fe contents.
Abstract: This study was conducted on Holothuria polii, Holothuria tubulosa, and Holothuria mammata collected from five stations with different depths in the Northern Mediterranean Sea. The body walls and guts of these holothurians were examined in terms of interactions of 10 metals (iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb)) and one metalloid (arsenic (As)) using a multivariate analysis, and interspecies differences were determined. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant differences between the species in terms of metal(loid) accumulations. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed a more association between H. tubulosa and H. polii with regard to the accumulation. The cluster analysis (CA) located Pb concentrations of the guts to the farthest place from all elements regardless of the species. A correlation analysis displayed that the element concentrations of the guts were more closely related to each other compared with those of the walls. The most inconsistent element in terms of correlations was the gut Fe contents. Accordingly, while Fe concentrations of H. mammata and H. tubulosa were correlated with all elements (except Pb) in divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) (divalent cation transporter 1 (DCT1) or natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 2 (NRAMP2)) belonging to the NRAM protein family, this was not the case in H. polii. Consequently, significant relationships between accumulated metal(loid)s that changed by tissues and sea cucumber species were observed.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The fatty acid profile suggests that H. polii is feeding on sediments more influenced by terrestrial inputs than the remaining species, and Holothuria mammata and H. tubulosa are feeding on marine food sources mainly, but also with some terrestrial influence.
Abstract: This work makes a comparative evaluation of the biochemical profile of three sea commercial cucumber species (Holothuria mammata, H. polii and H. tubulosa) caught from different locations of the Mediterranean Sea (SE Spain). All species had high levels of moisture (from 73.6% in H. mammata to 81.2% in H. tubulosa), crude ash (from 9.61% in H. mammata to 14.7% in H. tubulosa) and protein (3.01% in H. tubulosa to 11.1% in H. mammata). They also had a low fat content, from 0.21% in H. tubulosa to 0.55% in H. mammata. Holothuria polii had intermediate values between the other two species, for all considered variables. All species had adequate protein/lipid ratios (H. mammata, 20:1; H. polii, 23:1; H. tubulosa, 14:1) and low lipid levels, enriched in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially arachidonic acid. The fatty acid profile suggests that H. polii is feeding on sediments more influenced by terrestrial inputs than the remaining species. Holothuria mammata and H. tubulosa are feeding on marine food sources mainly, but also with some terrestrial influence. The most abundant amino acids detected were alanine, arginine, glutamic acid, and glycine. All species had similar contents of essential amino acids (EAA) and ratios of EAA/non-essential amino acids. Holothuria tubulosa had a high content of toxic metals including Cr, Pb and Ni. This work highlights differences in compositional characteristics between different species of the same genus (Holothuria) from different locations.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The identification of 17 additional hexahalogenated PDBPs in the blubber extract of a humpback dolphin from Queensland, Australia and 13 of these new PDBPS were also detected in an Australian sea cucumber.

15 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20222
202114
202024
201923
201822
201712