Diversity and Abundance of Shallow-water Sea Cucumbers in Samar and Leyte, Philippines

Abstract

Combined inventory of commercially collected sea cucumbers in buying stations and fishery-independent surveys of fishing grounds and marine protected areas (MPA) in Samar and Leyte conducted from January – December 2012 revealed 60 species of shallow-water holothurids distributed under Orders Apodida, Aspidochirotida, Dendrochirotida and Molpadiida. Three of the 15 unidentified species, Paracaudina spp. and Holothuria sp. are possible new species report in the Philippines.Species’ diversity of Samar and Leyte is high but the density of each species is very low ranging from 0.03 – 60.64 ind/ha with all commercially exploited species having densities <1 ind/ha.Catch per unit of effort (CPUE) calculated from results of timed gathering in fished areas of Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Maasin City is likewise low at 4.2 ind/gatherer/hr and 5.8 ind/gatherer/hr respectively. The CPUE in Palompon, Leyte is high at 235.6 ind/gatherer/hr but Holothuria albiventer , a species of no commercial value in the global market composes 87.5% of the catch. The MPAs also show relatively high CPUE values at 50 ind/gatherer/hrand 90 ind/gatherer/hr for Bagonbanua Marine Reserve and Fish Sanctuary in Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Tabuk Marine Park Fish and Bird Sanctuary in Palompon, Leyte respectively albeit also composed of low commercial value species.  Keywords: holothurids, species diversity, abundance, Leyte-Samar Philippines, new species record Â