299 



A study of tagging methods for the sea cucumber 

 Cucumaria frondosa in the waters off Maine 



Sheril Kirshenbaum 



216 Libby Hall, School of Marine Sciences 



University of Maine 



Orono. Maine 04469 



E mail address sheril_kirshenbaum(®umit maine edu 



Scott Feindel 



Maine Department of Marine Resources 

 West Bootfibay Harbor, Maine 04575 



Yong Chen 



216 Libby Hall, School of Marine Sciences 

 University of Maine 

 Orono, Maine 04469 



The sea cucumber fishery m waters off 

 Maine is developing and has recently 

 experienced great increases in land- 

 ings, corresponding to expanding 

 export markets. Between 1994 and 

 1996, reported landings ranged from 

 one to three million pounds (Fig. 1). 

 In 1999, reported landings were over 

 eight million pounds and rose to over 

 nine million in 2000 (Feindel'). Like 

 other developing fisheries, we have 

 little information about the biology 

 and ecology of the sea cucumber off 

 Maine, limited data on the fishery, 

 and little knowledge about the key life 

 history processes that characterize 

 its population dynamics. Therefore, 

 we have a limited understanding of 

 the current status of the resource and 

 the impacts the fishery may have on 

 the stock. 



Most research done so far has been 

 done on the red sea cucumber [Para- 

 stichopus californicus) in the north- 

 western United States and British 

 Columbia (e.g., Bradbury et al., 1996; 

 Zhou and Shirley, 1996; Phillips and 

 Boutillier, 1998; Perry et al., 1999; 

 Cripps and Campbell, 2000). Lim- 

 ited research has been done along 

 the eastern coast of North America, 

 although some studies have added 

 to our knowledge of Cucumaria fron- 

 dosa. A study of the ecology and be- 

 havior of C. frondosa was conducted 

 in Maine by Jordan (1972). More re- 



cent studies have focused on fertil- 

 ization success and feeding behavior 

 as it relates to aquaculture (Hamel 

 and Mercier, 1997; Medeiros-Bergen 

 and Miles, 1997; Singh et al., 1998). 

 These studies have improved our 

 knowledge of C. frondosa but still 

 do not provide enough information 

 on growth, one of the life history 

 processes most important for under- 

 standing the population dynamics of 

 sea cucumbers in waters off Maine. 

 Because of the lack of hard tissue 

 in sea cucumbers to lay down growth 

 increments, tagging is the method 

 undertaken to determine age. Tag- 

 ging studies of sea cucumbers are 

 difficult because external tags are 

 frequently lost and internal tags can 

 be shed through the body wall. Sea 

 cucumbers have been tagged in situ 

 with limited success (Shelley, 1981; 

 Conand-) by using a small T-bar tag 

 that is inserted through the body wall 

 with a tagging gun (Harriott, 1980). 

 Previous studies of manual tags in P. 

 californicus in Washington indicated 

 that the presence of these tags had 

 no significant effect on the behavior 

 of the sea cucumbers and did not af- 

 fect their ability to react to shifts 

 in the salinity of the experimental 

 medium (FankbonerM. Typically, ne- 

 crosis of the tissue surrounding the 

 tag occurs and tags fall out within a 

 few months (Morgan, 2000). Morgan 



suggested that this method may be 

 adequate for tagging broodstock in 

 captivity over short periods of time 

 and stated that tag loss may be min- 

 imized by ensuring that the T-bar 

 is pushed right through the dermis 

 and attempting to make a puncture 

 wound that is as small and clean as 

 possible. Schroeter et al. (2001) used 

 tags to conduct a growth study of P. 

 parvimensis in California by follow- 

 ing individuals through repeated sur- 

 veys at two sites. Only 17.6 % of 1224 

 tagged animals were recaptured over 

 one year. These studies indicate that 

 manual tags may not be an effective 

 means for studying growth because 

 of the high frequency of shedding 

 tags by sea cucumbers. 



Previous researchers have also 

 used fluorescent dyes to stain the 

 calcareous plates surrounding the 

 buccal cavity of sea cucumbers but 

 with varied results. Successful 

 staining has depended on the tim- 

 ing of the injection of the dye and 

 the deposition of calcium for growth 

 of the mouthparts (Conand-). Other 

 work has suggested that fluorescent 

 marking by dyeing the ossicle of the 

 juveniles with tetracycline may be 

 useful (Tanaka^). However, injec- 



' Feindel, S. 2002. Status of the Maine 

 sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) 

 fishery. Report to the standing legis- 

 lative committee on marine resources, 

 35 p. Department Marine Resources, 

 West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575. 



- Conand, C. 1989. Aspidochirote holo- 

 thurians of New Caledonia lagoon: biol- 

 ogy, ecology and exploitation. Studies 

 and thesis, 393 p. ORSTOM, Paris. 



■' Fankboner, P. V. 2002. Seasonal vis- 

 ceral atrophy and response to salinity 

 by Parastichopus californicus (Stimp- 

 son): osmoregulation? SPC Beche-de-mer 

 Information Bulletin no. 17, 5 p. Uni- 

 versite de La Reunion, Laboratoire de 

 biologie marine, 97715 Saint-Denis 

 Cedex, La Reunion, France. 



■* Tanaka, M. 2000. Diminution of sea 

 cucumber Stichopus Japonicus juveniles 

 released on artificial reefs. Bulletin 

 Ishikawa Prefecture Fish Research 

 Centre 2:19-29. 



Manuscript submitted 13 October 2004 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 26 July 2005 by the Scientific Editor 



Fish. Bull. 104:299-302 (2006). 



