Stress responses of the sea cucumber Holothuria forskali during aquaculture handling and transportation

ABSTRACT

Animal welfare during handling and transportation to aquaculture facilities or public aquaria is commonly estimated by addressing injury and mortality levels. Although these procedures have been optimized for different species, data on individual species’ cellular capabilities to tolerate stress are still scarce. In the present study, several biomarkers related with oxidative stress and energy metabolism were assessed in Holothuria forskali during animal acclimation, pre-transport, transport and quarantine. Combined analyses confirmed that sea cucumbers experienced high oxidative stress during transport, but had the capability to deal with it using a complex of cellular defence mechanisms, which enabled recovery from oxidative stress without permanent damage. Through a better understanding of individual species and the development of optimal parameters, this approach has the potential to improve animal wellbeing during and after acclimation, transportation and recovery processes.

RESPONSIBLE EDITOR:

• Manuela Truebano

KEYWORDS:

• Animal welfare
• biomarkers
• energy metabolism
• holothurian
• oxidative stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Marco F. L. Lemos http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9887-1864

Additional information

Funding

This study had the support of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Strategic Project (UID/MAR/04292/2013) granted to MARE, and from an FCT and Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) program for bilateral cooperation funding. Sara C. Novais wishes to acknowledge the financial support given by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BPD/94500/2013).