Sea cucumber biodiversity: a first report of morphological observations of sea cucumbers from Lampung and Gorontalo, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

Sea cucumber biodiversity along Indonesian coasts is plentiful. However, misidentification of sea cucumbers is a common practice in trading, due to the external morphological similarity of sea cucumbers of the same genus. In 2018 and 2019, sea cucumbers were collected from Lampung and Gorontalo waters in Indonesia, known locally as blimbing, kelapa, bintik, cera merah, lolosong/pisang, olo-olo and cera duri. This article describes, for the first time, the external morphology of Actinopyga echinites, A. miliaris, Bohadschia ocellata, Holothuria edulis, H. fuscocinerea, and Pearsonothuria graeffei from Gorontalo, and that of B. marmorata and H. fuscocinerea from Lampung. Correctly identifying sea cucumbers is important in understanding their natural abundance but also for tracking sales of individuals and monitoring biodiversity.

KEYWORDS:

• Morphology
• sea cucumbers
• Lampung
• Gorontalo

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a Demand Driven Research Grant from the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP), Indonesian Institute of Sciences [Grant No. B1191/IPK.2/KS.02/III/2018] and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries [Grant No. SP-DIPA- 032.12.2.403835/2019]; Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia; Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan.

Notes on contributors

Tiara S. Khatulistiani

Tiara S. Khatulistiani is an assistant researcher at the Research Center for Marine and Land Bioindustry, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia. She was previously affiliated with the Research Center of Marine and Fisheries Product and Biotechnology, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Her research interests include marine chemical ecology and bioprospecting.

Ismiliana Wirawati

Ismiliana Wirawati is a junior researcher at the Research Center for Oceanography, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia. Her research specialty is the biosystematics of sea cucumbers.

Gintung Patantis

Gintung Patantis is a senior researcher at the Research Center for Marine and Land Bioindustry, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia. He was previously affiliated with the Research Center of Marine and Fisheries Product and Biotechnology, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. His specialty is marine biotechnology and bioproducts.

Yasman Yasman

Yasman Yasman is an associate professor at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia. His research interests include metabolomics and chemical ecology.

Ariyanti S. Dewi

Ariyanti S. Dewi is a senior researcher at the Research Center for Marine and Land Bioindustry, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia. She was previously affiliated with the Research Center of Marine and Fisheries Product and Biotechnology, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Her research interest is in the natural product chemistry of marine invertebrates.