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Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa

Sea urchin aquaculture for human food is a major industry, and there are prospects for the industry in South Africa. Feeding preferences of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla were tested by two different methods; a touch-preference test and a 48-hour consumption test. A touchpreference is establish...

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Main Author: Scholtz, Rheinhardt
Other Authors: Bolton, John J
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author Scholtz, Rheinhardt
author2 Bolton, John J
author_browse Bolton, John J
Scholtz, Rheinhardt
author_facet Bolton, John J
Scholtz, Rheinhardt
author_sort Scholtz, Rheinhardt
collection Thesis
description Sea urchin aquaculture for human food is a major industry, and there are prospects for the industry in South Africa. Feeding preferences of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla were tested by two different methods; a touch-preference test and a 48-hour consumption test. A touchpreference is established when the sea urchins' lantern teeth touched an algal species. The 48-hour consumption test was performed with paired combinations using four species of fresh algae. It was hypothesized that the preferred species would be similar in the touch-preference test and the consumption test. Five algal species were used in the touch-preference test; namely, Ecklonia maxima (kelp), Gigartina polycarpa, Grateloupia capensi, Porphyra capensis, and U/va rigida. Four of these species were used in the paired consumption test; namely, E. maxima, G. polycarpa, P. capensis and U. rigida. We found that E. maxima was most preferred in the touch-test followed by P. capensis and U. rigida. This result did not correlate with our consumption test. Here, U. rigida was significantly most preferred followed by E. maxima. Overall, the result is significant in relation to the prospect of echinoculture in South Africa as Ulva may provide a valuable alternate feed or supplement to this new industry. Due to the increase in time provided for the paired consumption test, we found that the paired consumption test was more conclusive in providing a preference for Tripneustes gratilla. Our results agree with literature which suggests that Tripneustes gratilla is a genera list feeder; however, Tripneustes gratilla shows definite preferences. Ulva spp. has been grown on a number of abalone farms in South Africa. Integrated aquaculture using T. gratilla and U. rigida as a biofilter and alternate feed is a very promising idea for echinoculture in South Africa.
format Thesis
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:40:19.853Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24380 Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa Scholtz, Rheinhardt Bolton, John J Cyrus, Mark Digby Botany Sea urchin aquaculture for human food is a major industry, and there are prospects for the industry in South Africa. Feeding preferences of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla were tested by two different methods; a touch-preference test and a 48-hour consumption test. A touchpreference is established when the sea urchins' lantern teeth touched an algal species. The 48-hour consumption test was performed with paired combinations using four species of fresh algae. It was hypothesized that the preferred species would be similar in the touch-preference test and the consumption test. Five algal species were used in the touch-preference test; namely, Ecklonia maxima (kelp), Gigartina polycarpa, Grateloupia capensi, Porphyra capensis, and U/va rigida. Four of these species were used in the paired consumption test; namely, E. maxima, G. polycarpa, P. capensis and U. rigida. We found that E. maxima was most preferred in the touch-test followed by P. capensis and U. rigida. This result did not correlate with our consumption test. Here, U. rigida was significantly most preferred followed by E. maxima. Overall, the result is significant in relation to the prospect of echinoculture in South Africa as Ulva may provide a valuable alternate feed or supplement to this new industry. Due to the increase in time provided for the paired consumption test, we found that the paired consumption test was more conclusive in providing a preference for Tripneustes gratilla. Our results agree with literature which suggests that Tripneustes gratilla is a genera list feeder; however, Tripneustes gratilla shows definite preferences. Ulva spp. has been grown on a number of abalone farms in South Africa. Integrated aquaculture using T. gratilla and U. rigida as a biofilter and alternate feed is a very promising idea for echinoculture in South Africa. 2017-05-19T12:44:21Z 2017-05-19T12:44:21Z 2008 Bachelor Thesis Honours BSc (Hons) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24380 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Botany
Scholtz, Rheinhardt
Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
thesis_degree_str Bachelor's / Honours
title Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
title_full Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
title_fullStr Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
title_short Feeding preferences of Tripneustes gratilla Linnaeus Echinodermata Echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in South Africa
title_sort feeding preferences of tripneustes gratilla linnaeus echinodermata echinodea and the prospect for sea urchin aquaculture in south africa
topic Botany
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24380
work_keys_str_mv AT scholtzrheinhardt feedingpreferencesoftripneustesgratillalinnaeusechinodermataechinodeaandtheprospectforseaurchinaquacultureinsouthafrica