Utilization of dietary carbohydrates by sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) as indicated by carbon stable isotope analysis

Abstract

Carbon stable isotopes were used as trophic markers to investigate the utilization of dietary terrestrial-source carbohydrates by sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. Sea cucumbers were fed by five different types of diets with the ingredients containing Sargassum muticum either without starch or with one of the four starches including corn starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca starch and potato starch. After the 70-day feeding trial, the carbon isotopic compositions of A. japonicus appeared to reflect those of corresponding dietary components. The average contribution of corn starch (22.0%) to the growth of A. japonicus was slightly higher than the expected contribution (20%). While the proportional contributions of sweet potato, tapioca and potato starches (6.0%, 7.0% and 4.0%, respectively) were all considerably lower relative to the expected contributions. These results indicated that A. japonicus could utilize corn starch more efficiently than sweet potato, tapioca or potato starch. Moreover, A. japonicus fed diet containing corn starch showed the highest specific growth rates which were significantly higher than those fed diets containing potato or tapioca starch. The results of the present study suggested that the corn starch could be used as dietary carbohydrate source in the artificial feeds for A. japonicus farming.