Holothuria

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

Morphological and Molecular Identification of Holothuria (Merthensiothuria) leucospilota and Stichopus horrens from Pangkor Island, Malaysia.

Abstract: This preliminary study aimed to identify a commercial gamat species, Stichopus horrens Selenka, 1867, and a timun laut species, Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota (Brandt, 1835), from Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia, employing morphological techniques based on the shape of the ossicles and molecular techniques based on the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene. In Malaysia, a gamat is defined as a sea cucumber species of the family Stichopodidae with medicinal value, and timun laut refers to non-gamat species. S. horrens is very popular on Pangkor Island as a main ingredient in the traditional production of air gamat and minyak gamat, while H. leucospilota is the most abundant species in Malaysia. In contrast to previous studies, internal body parts (the respiratory tree and gastrointestine) were examined in this study to obtain better inferences based on morphology. The results showed that there were no ossicles present in the gastrointestine of H. leucospilota, and this characteristic is suggested as a unique diagnostic marker for the timun laut species. In addition, the presence of Y-shaped rods in the respiratory tree of S. horrens subsequently supported the potential to use internal body parts to identify the gamat species. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI mtDNA gene of the sea cucumber specimens using the neighbour-joining method and maximum likelihood methods further confirmed the species status of H. leucospilota and S. horrens from Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia. The COI mtDNA gene sequences were registered with GenBank, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), US National Library of Medicine (GenBank accession no.: KC405565-KC405568). Although additional specimens from various localities will be required to produce more conclusive results, the current findings provide better insight into the importance of complementary approaches involving morphological and molecular techniques in the identification of the two Malaysian sea cucumber species.

Structure elucidation, protein profile and the antitumor effect of the biological active substance extracted from sea cucumber Holothuria polii:

Abstract: Holothuria polii (Delle Chiaje, 1823) (Holothuriidae) is a sea cucumber inhabiting Mediterranean Sea coast of Egypt. The bioactive compound of its tegument has antifungal, antibacterial and antipar...

Species and size composition of sea cucumber in coastal waters of UN bay, Southeast Maluku, Indonesia

Abstract: Indonesia is one of the largest exporter sea cucumber in the world However, information on this resource, especially in Maluku province is still lacking Research to study species and size composition of sea cucumber was carried out in Un bay, Southeast Maluku on October to November 2013 Data of sea cucumber was collected by using belt transect A total of 104 individuals belonging to 11 species from five genuses namely Holothuria, Stichopus, Actinopyga, Bohadschia and Thelenota were found during the study Genus Holothuria had the most individuals whilst genera of Actinopyga and Thelenota had the least individual Minimum size in term of length and weight represented by Holothuria scabra while maximum size belonged to Stichopus variegates Further analysis on the most dominant species ie H scabra showed that most of the individual consists of large size with the ratio between male and female was 1:051 Growth pattern of this species was negative allometric (b < 3)