Succession and seasonal variation in epilithic biofilms on artificial reefs in culture waters of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

作     者：LIU Liming DU Rongbin ZHANG Xiaoling DONG Shuanglin SUN Shichun 刘立明;杜荣斌;张晓凌;董双林;孙世春

作者机构：Key Laboratory of Mariculture Ministry of Education Ocean University of China Qingdao 266003 China Ocean School Yantai University Yantai 264005 China 

出 版 物：《Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology》 (中国海洋湖沼学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第35卷第1期

页      面：132-152页

核心收录：

学科分类：090801[农学-水产养殖] 0908[农学-水产] 09[农学] 

基　　金：Supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China(No.2006BAD09A01) the Science and Technology Development Project in Shandong Province(No.2010GHY10505) the Science and Technology Development Project of Yantai(No.2011049) 

主　　题：artificial reef sea cucumber culture waters epilithic biofilm succession seasonal variation Apostichopus japonicus diatom 

摘      要：Periphytic biofilms in aquaculture waters are thought to improve water quality, provide an additional food source, and improve the survival and growth of some reared animals. In the AsiaPacific region, particularly in China, artificial reefs are commonly used in the commercial farming of sea cucumbers. However, few studies have examined the epilithic biofilms on the artificial reefs. To gain a better understanding of the succession of epilithic biofilms and their ecological processes in sea cucumber culture waters, two experiments were conducted in culture waters of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in Rongcheng, China, using artificial test panels. On the test panels of succession experiment, more than 67 species were identified in the biofilms. On the test panels of seasonal variation experiment, more than 46 species were recorded in the biofilms. In both experiments, communities of epilithic biofilms were dominated by diatoms, green algae and the annelid Spirorbis sp. In the initial colonization, the dominant diatoms were Cocconeis sp., Amphora spp. and Nitzschia closterium in June, which were succeeded by species of Navicula, Cocconeis and Nitzschia(July to September), and then by Licmophora abbreviata, Nitzschia closterium and Synedra spp. in the following months. A diatom bloom in the autumn and filamentous green algae burst in the summer were also observed. Ecological indices well annotated the succession and seasonal changes in epilithic communities. Multidimensional scaling(MDS) analysis found significant differences in diatom community composition among months and seasons. Fast growth of biofilms was observed in the summer and autumn, whereas the biomass of summer biofilms was largely made up of filamentous green algae. Present results show that the components of epilithic biofilms are mostly optimal foods of A. japonicus, suggesting that biofilms on artificial reefs may contribute important nutritional sources for sea cucumbers during their growth s