Ana Pombo

Polytechnic of Leiria

The sea cucumber Holothuria arguinensis (Koehler and Vaney, 1906) presents an increasing commercial value in Asian markets and its exportation depends exclusively on wild stock harvesting. Production through aquaculture has been acknowledged as an alternative to supply demand and reduce pressure on natural stocks, but there are still bottlenecks to...

Filter-feeding mussels blend suspended particles into faeces and pseudo-faeces enhancing organic matter flows between the water column and the bottom, and strengthening benthic-pelagic coupling. Inside operating farms, high bivalve densities in relatively confined areas result in an elevated rate of organic sinking to the seabed, which may cause a...

Since the early 1980's there has been an increase in sea cucumber harvest and trade, mainly due to Asiatic market pressure. In the Indo-Pacific regions, the collapse of various stocks of these echinoderms has already occurred due to overfishing. In Europe, sea cucumber exportation depends exclusively on wild stock harvesting, which has demonstrated...

The sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) is an important economic resource in Europe, but intense harvesting has led to the collapse of several natural populations. Echinoculture, associated with restocking and stock enhancement practices, is an alternative to this problem. In these procedures, reliable indiv...

The nutritional characteristics of microalgae affect the growth, survival and fatty acid composition of sea urchin larvae. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of nutritive characteristics of single microalgal diets in Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) larval development, growth, and condition. Larvae of P. lividus were fed with three mon...

Salinity plays a major role in several physiological processes in sea urchins, including reproduction and growth, ultimately affecting survival. Optimal salinity ranges vary considerably between species, as a consequence of ecological adaptations. However, related research in the context of aquaculture is quite scarce, particularly for the stenohal...

The market value of sea urchin roe (female and male gonads) depends on several quality criteria, such as size, color, texture, and flavor. Sea urchins given dry pellet feed often produce large gonads, but the preferred bright orange color has been difficult to achieve without the inclusion of supplementary dietary carotenoids. Gonad color depends o...

Holothuria mammata is one of the most valuable species of sea cucumber, as well as one of the main target species harvested in the Mediterranean and NE-Atlantic regions. This study aims to describe the reproductive cycle of H. mammata in a coastal area of southwest Portugal. Monthly samplings were carried out for 19 months, with the concomitant col...

The early host–pathogen interaction between European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Betanodavirus was examined by using juvenile fish infected intramuscularly with RGNNV (red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus). The time course selected for sampling (0–144 h post-infection (hpi)) covered the early stages of infection, with hematological, an...

Physico-chemical and biological parameters along the Portuguese coast were analyzed to evaluate the potential to produce aquatic species of economic interest. Water samples were collected in 2018 and 2019 in five different areas of the Portuguese coast. Currents data were collected between 2018 and 2020 and historical waves height data from 1988 to...

Introduction Anthropogenic litter on the sea surface, beaches and seafloor has been significantly increasing over recent decades (Galgani et al. 2015). In present days, marine litter is worldwide distributed, and the Atlantic Island of Madeira is no exception (Álvarez et al. 2020). This accumulation of litter in the ocean is severely affecting oce...

Introduction The high mortality rates occurring during larval development, together with the high running costs of larval rearing systems and juvenile production, remain the major bottlenecks to the full cycle production of sea urchin (Carboni et al., 2012). For this reason, it is necessary to improve experimental protocols for larval production....

Introduction The sea urchins’ welfare is highly affected by changes in water quality. For this reason, it is crucial to understand their tolerance limits in closed and semi-closed aquaculture systems, where the levels of harmful or toxic substances can be higher that normally occur in natural environments (Albrizio et al., 2019). The harmful subst...

Seaweeds still possess a large undisclosed potential, mainly due to their constituent's richness, which may have several uses for society. In aquaculture, they may play a role as an ecological sustainable aquafeed supplement to increase overall health and fight pathogenic outbreaks. This study aimed to evaluate the general health modulation that th...

There is an increasing demand for sea cucumbers, for human consumption, mainly from Asian markets and, as a consequence, NE-Atlantic species are now new targets for exploitation and exportation. Holothuria mammata is one of the most valuable species in Europe. However, the lack of historical economic interest in this species in most European countr...

The development of rearing protocols promoting the larval development, pre and post-metamorphosis are key for echinoculture. Mixed diets combining diatom with other microalgae have been used with success and Rhodomonas sp. (Rho)-based diets showed promising results in larval survival. This study was aimed to evaluate the rearing success of Paracent...

Holothuria arguinensis, Holothuria mammata and Holothuria forskali are three common sea cucumber species found in the NE Atlantic, traded in international markets and susceptible to capture. Allometric relationships reveal if the scaling relationships between biometric characters are proportional with growth, being a useful tool to understand speci...

The main goal of this study was to investigate the seasonal chemical changes of two sea cucumber species caught from Portugal. The potential contribution to human health of lipids was also evaluated. For this, the chemical composition (protein, ash, and fat) and lipids composition of Holothuria arguinensis and Holothuria forskali was followed in su...

The intensive exploitation of sea cucumbers, mainly exported to Asian seafood markets, has contributed to deplete natural populations of several species. In Europe, the aquaculture production of these echinoderms is minimal, reflecting the low scientific production on the topic. In Portugal, like in Mediterranean countries, there are native species...

Introdução: As gônadas dos ouriços-do-mar são consideradas uma fonte de proteínas, lipídios e minerais. Esse aparato nutricional está associado ao gênero e aos estágios gametogênicos do organismo, os quais podem ser alterados por condições desfavoráveis, como presença de poluentes e limitação de alimento. Em julho de 2017, ocorreu um derramamento a...

Sea urchins’ gonads are a delicacy highly appreciated worldwide. In Europe, Paracentrotus lividus is one of the most valuable edible sea urchin species and a desired target for aquaculture. One of the challenges of echinoculture is to increase the sea urchins’ growth rate during the on-growing phase and reducing the production cycle required to obt...

Sea urchin roe is a gastronomic delicacy appreciated worldwide and Portugal is the third largest consumer nation of seafood. However, sea urchin roe is recognized as a seafood by few members of the national coastal communities. Motivated by an increasing interest of gastronomic and aquaculture sectors in producing this seafood, a survey was conduct...

Introdução: Os ácidos gordos (AG) representam uma importante fonte de energia para o metabolismo dos ouriços-do-mar, principalmente durante o processo de gametogénese. No entanto, os estudos que tratam dos AG como biomarcadores de contaminação ambiental ainda são incipientes. Objetivo: Em decorrência de um derrame acidental de hidrocarbonetos na co...

The high demand of sea cucumbers in international markets, mostly based in Asia, has left a deep impact on the natural stock of many species, leading to an investment in aquaculture techniques in order to mitigate these impacts. This study aimed to determine the effects of stock density in rearing broodstock of Holothuria (Panningoturia) forskali D...

A contaminação de águas costeiras por poluentes pode ter impactos em diferentes aspectos do sucesso reprodutivo e no desempenho de diversos organismos marinhos podendo, consequentemente, afetar a manutenção dos ecossistemas. Neste sentido, muitos trabalhos de monitoramento ambiental têm sido desenvolvidos com o intuito de estudar os efeitos da pres...

The common sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is the most consumed echinoid in Europe. It is considered a seafood delicacy, given its high-valued gonads. In sea urchins, temperature probably represents the most important abiotic factor affecting several physiological processes and it is essential to better establish optimal reference...

Gonads of Paracentrotus lividus are considered a delicacy and the increasing market demand depleted several wild stocks. In this context, sustainable echinoculture can play an important role for supplying commercially gonads and also for local restocking. Nevertheless, the success of this activity largely depends on the development of valuable hatc...

Sea cucumbers fisheries becoming commercially exploited due to the increasing demand in Asian markets. The resulting unregulated exploitation has led to the collapse of several natural stocks. In this context, aquaculture represents an alternative to meet the demand, reducing pressure on wild stocks and at the same time allowing the restocking of l...

Polychaetes are marine annelid worms that can contribute to aquaculture diversification. Its culture has been viable, and commercially attempted, but intensive production has progressed only in few countries around the world. In the countries with no production, marine polychaetes are imported or harvested. A strong and sustained research investmen...

Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck 1816) has high-value reddish orange gonads that are regarded as a delicacy. In this study, three jellified diets have been tested for 90 days to assess the effect of different diets on P. lividus somatic and gonadal growth, gonad color, and reproductive state. All diets contained agar as a gelling agent and consisted...

Sea urchin roe is becoming an extremely appreciated delicacy in occidental gastronomy. Besides that, it also has a high nutritional value, being rich in of protein, lipids, fatty acids (mainly ω3-PUFA), carotenoids, vitamins and minerals. The high commercial value and the continuously growing market demand are starting to cause the decline of sea u...

The sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816), mainly distributed in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas and in the North-Eastern Atlantic coast, represents an important economic resource. Its reddish-orange gonads, also designated as roe, are long considered a luxury food item, with a high nutritional content, particularly in carotenoids. G...

The majority of harvested sea cucumbers are exported to Asian seafood markets, primarily as a dried product called beche-de-mer. The intensive exploitation of this resource has contributed to deplete natural populations of several species (Meloni and Esposito, 2018; Purcell et al., 2018). Aquaculture production of sea cucumbers has expanded rapidly...

Controlling the planktonic larval development represents one of the key bottlenecks for commercial echinoculture. Particularly, the transition from planktonic larvae to benthic juveniles, the metamorphoses, the settlement rates and survival are the most critical stages for full cycle production. For this reason, significant improvements are needed...

Introduction The increasing demand for sea urchin roe and consequent rising prices have resulted in a worldwide escalation of sea urchin fisheries, which are causing a depletion of the wild stocks. Therefore, a change is needed to preserve this resource, which may be achieved through the development of sustainable echinoculture. Moreover, this act...

Sea cucumbers have keystone ecological functions in marine ecosystems, as nutrient recycling agents and helping buffer local ocean acidification. Strong demand for these echinoderms led to the overexploitation of natural stocks. Therefore, sea cucumber harvesting is expanding to different areas, where new species are being targeted. Establishing su...

Polychaete annelids are some of the most heavily harvested invertebrates collected in coastal areas and estuaries for their economic value as live fishing bait or as food supplement in aquaculture activities. However, information on bait digging in Portugal is scarce or incomplete. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating the bait digging act...

The natural diminishing stocks of capture fisheries provide an ongoing incentive to diversify and produce new marine species. The diversification in aquaculture is a key to ensure the economic sustainability of the sector. New endogenous species, particularly in a lower levels of the trophic chain, such echinoderms, can contribute to reduce the env...

Abstract: Sea cucumbers have been consumed for centuries mainly in Asia. These organisms are seen as traditional and medicinal foods and over the last decades the demand for these high-value seafood products has placed severe pressure on sea cucumber fisheries. With an increasing price trend, the increasing international trade has been failing to m...

In this study, the effects of three diets were investigated to enhance Paracentrotus lividus production for commercial purposes. P. lividus were fed ad libitum for 80 days with: diet A—fresh Codium tomentosum Stackhouse, 1797; diet B—formulated using a jellified mix of macroalgae and vegetables, including C. tomentosum (20%), Coralina sp. Linnaeus,...

Aquaculture has been a growing sector of food production worldwide in the last decades, and now starts to include new, unconventional species from the Phylum Echinodermata, such as sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) and sea cucumber (Holothuria tubulosa). However, little is known in this context with regard to food safety aspects arising from toxig...

Holothuria tubulosa (Gmelin, 1788) is a marine invertebrate, belonging to the group Echinodermata. This species presents separated sexes without sexual dimorphism. H. tubulosa has been seen as a new candidate for aquaculture, as this species is resistant to handling and adapts easily to captivity conditions. The increasing demand for sea cucumber s...

The sea cucumber is an Echinoderm with high economic interest. Due to increasing demand, the heavy pressure imposed on this group is so such that its natural stock is dwindling worldwide. A steep decrease in abundance of wild sea cucumbers has been observed, which together with the rising interest in consumption from the general public has lead to...

Polychaetes are marine annelid worms that can contribute to aquaculture diversification. Its culture has been viable, and commercially attempted, but intensive production has progressed only in few countries around the world. In the countries with no production, marine polychaetes are imported or harvested. A strong and sustained research investmen...

The use of natural extracts and crude biomass from seaweeds in food and feed, is a promising area, since these can be rich sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds, namely with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. Recently there has been a growing interest regarding the potential of seaweeds as a source of nutritional and health related comp...

The effects of three different microalgae diets were assessed on the survival and growth of the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus larvae. Diet A was composed equally by Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Isochrysis galbana, while Diet B consisted on P. tricornutum and Tetraselmis chuii, and Diet C was a mixture of P. tricornutum, I. galbana and T....

An efficient hatchery production of the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is recognized as an alternative solution for the depletion of wild stocks, although larval survival and settlement rates remain a critical commercial bottleneck for echinoculture. Echinopluteus swimming larvae are able to select feed before ingestion. Th...

Sea cucumbers (Class Holothuroidea) are echinoderms with an extremely important ecological role. They dwell on the benthic zone being either deposit or suspension feeders, feeding on tiny particles like algae, small aquatic animals, or organic matter. The holothurians reduce the organic load of the ecosystems while excreting inorganic nitrogen and...

The high demand for sea cucumbers in eastern markets, either as a protein source for human consumption or for medicinal purposes, placed an excessive pressure on natural stocks. Sea cucumber aquaculture, set as a valuable alternative for producers and highly developed in Southeast Asia, still falls short on supply. As a consequence, exploitation of...

Seaweed culture systems worldwide aim to achieve high biomass production and profitable yields, by adopting methodologies specifically designed for a target species. In this sense, research aimed at improving the growth conditions of the red seaweed Gracilaria gracilis , a gracilarioid widely cultivated worldwide, is of utmost importance, mainly du...

Sea urchins play a key role on the marine biological communities. Changes in their populations can lead to major alterations in structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems. The sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is an abundant species throughout the coast of Portugal. It is widely distributed along the eastern Atlantic coasts, fro...

Sea cucumbers are a high value seafood product in Southeast Asia. The strong demand for these echinoderms, has led to an increasing exploitation of natural stocks, resulting in the downfall of this resource in the Indo-Pacific region. As a consequence of a population depletion of several species, fishing areas are expanding to the Mediterranean and...

Holothuria tubulosa (Gmelin, 1788) is a marine invertebrate, belonging to the group Echinodermata, usually known as sea cucumber. Its geographical distribution extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and it is frequently associated to sandy and rocky areas, as well as sea meadows. Generally, they occur at depths less than 100 m. Th...

Sea urchin roe are becoming an extremely appreciated delicacy in occidental gastronomy, similar to what happens in Asian countries, such as in Japan, where it is considered a gastronomic tradition. The high commercial value and the continuously growing market demand are starting to cause the decline of sea urchins natural stocks, such is the case o...

The sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is distributed throughout the Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea and in the NorthEastern Atlantic coasts, including the entire coast of Portugal. The high-value reddish-orange gonads are regarded as a delicacy, having France, Spain, Italy and Greece as its main markets. Intense harvesting has result...

Transport of sea cucumber specimens is a sensitive task that should be handled with care to avoid stress and any degradation of physiological conditions. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of transport and acclimation on individuals of Holothuria forskali. Seventy individuals were captured in the coastal area adjacent to the Sado estuary dur...

The international demand for sea urchin roe does urge an interest in to develop techniques to produce Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) in aquaculture. However, there are some obstacles that need to be overcome, like the lack of knowledge in rearing its embryos and larvae. The basic procedures to cultivate the early development stages need to b...

Acknowledgements This project has the financial support of Operational Programme MAR2020 through the project 16-02-01-FMP-0004: Ouriceira Aqua: Aquaculture and Enhancement of Gonad Production in the Sea Urchin (Paracentrotus lividus). This study had the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/042...

https://www.frontiersin.org/10.3389%2Fconf.FMARS.2018.06.00007/event_abstract

Sea urchin gonads (roe) are a prize product and broadly recognized as a delicacy for human consumption. Due to the increasing demand for this product by Asian and European countries, overfishing is causing a sharp decline in the wild stocks of Paracentotus lividus. During the last decade a significant increase in efforts to develop cost-effective m...

The present study aims to establish the rearing conditions for the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Several other studies were developed with P. lividus and other sea urchins that might have high potential for aquaculture and commercial fisheries. This aquaculture research project will last 36 months and is part of a multidisciplinary proje...

Introduction The edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) is an important marine resource in Europe. During the past years, this species has been the target of several studies, with the intent to produce and rear it in aquaculture. Accordingly, an essay was performed to assess the effect of temperature and salinity in the early dev...

Introduction Fish farming release particulate organic matter, fish faeces, unconsumed extruded feed and inorganic nutrients that can cause environmental deterioration of the bottoms. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) has potential to reduce the waste and increase the productivity of aquaculture. Sea cucumbers are valuable species that c...

Different invertebrate groups are often exploited on sediment shores and mudflats, including polychaetes, sipunculids, bivalves and crustaceans. The commercial importance of polychaetes and sipunculids, that has increased in the early 2000's because of its use as a food source for the aquaculture sector and a growing demand of worms for use as sea...

Holothuria forskali is a widely distributed sea cucumber species in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. Understanding the reproductive biology study of H. forskali is a crucial step towards achieving the sustainable production of this species in aquaculture facilities. Because echinoderms have no sexual dimorphism, it is not possible to determine...

In southern Europe, the interest in sea cucumbers is relatively recent, but several fisheries have now been developed, as well as aquaculture projects. Holothuria mammata is one of the holothurian species targeted. In this study, some reproductive biological characteristics of H. mammata were studied, such as sex ratio, weight, gonadosomatic index,...