An external check for disease and health of hatchery-produced sea cucumbers
Purcell, S.; Eeckhaut, I. (2005). An external check for disease and health of hatchery-produced sea cucumbers. SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin 22: 34-38
In: SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin. Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Noumea. ISSN 1095-4943, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Purcell, S.
- Eeckhaut, I., more
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| Abstract |
Sea cucumber diseases that arise in the hatchery can cripple production and undermine restocking programmes. A rapid protocol for the external examination of juvenile sea cucumbers was developed in order to screen for disease and poor health. After selecting a random sample of juveniles from the entire group, each individual is examined for one minute under low-power microscopy. Six external criteria are checked, including abnormalities of the mouth, anus, papillae, body colour, and signs of excess mucus, unhealed lesions, parasites and macroassociates. If more than 5% of screened animals were “unhealthy” or more than 2% were “diseased”, then the whole group from which the sample was derived should be considered unfit for grow-out or restocking. In such cases, the handling and environmental conditions in the hatchery should be improved and the entire group quarantined and treated. The protocol sets a standardised procedure for checking large numbers of juveniles for many infectious diseases, and is a starting point for further development of standardised protocols. |
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