| Aquaculture is practiced extensively in harbor basins of Japan、 where uneaten feed deposited on the sea floor and deteriorating sediment conditions are acknowledged as problems. The authors conducted a study to quantify the ability of sea cucumbers to purify sediment through their feeding as a measure. In previous laboratory testing、 sediment collected from sea cucumber’s habitat was used. However、 the question remained as to whether sea cucumbers feeding on sediment deposited on an already polluted site were capable of purification this material. This paper reports on a laboratory test conducted to study the feeding behavior of sea cucumbers that fed on sediment in a fishing port. The port is located in Hokkaido、 Japan、 where the sediment has deteriorated. The test confirmed that the sea cucumbers could feed on polluted sediment in an aerobic environment、 and that their feed intake was greater than that in their natural habitats. Thus、 it was revealed that the effect of sea cucumber’s feeding on sediment purification could be strongly expected. |
