Effect of Co-Culture of Chinese Shrimp(Fenneropenaeus chinensis) and Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus Selenka) on Pond Environment

Monoculture of sea cucumber(pond S) and polyculture of shrimp with sea cucumber(pond SS) were established to evaluate the effect of shrimp on the environmental conditions of sea cucumber farming pond. Contributions of sediment organic matter(SOM2) resuspended from benthic sediment and the suspended particulate organic matter(SPOM) deposited from the water column to the precipitated organic matter(SOM1) collected with sediment traps were estimated with carbon stable isotope analysis. The results showed that the levels of SPOM and SOM2 in pond SS significantly decreased in comparison with those in pond S at the end of experiment(P < 0.05), indicating that co-culturing shrimp in sea cucumber farming pond could purify the farming water. Carbon stable isotope analysis showed that the proportion of SOM2 in SOM1 in pond SS(84.97% ± 0.38%) was significantly lower than that in pond S(95.20% ± 0.30%)(P < 0.05), suggesting that the resuspension of organic matter from benthic sediment into overlying water was reduced in polyculture pond. In contrast, the proportion of SPOM in SOM1 in pond SS(15.03% ± 0.38%) was significantly higher than that in pond S(4.80% ± 0.30%)(P < 0.05), indicating that the sedimentation of SPOM from water column was enhanced in pond SS owing to the biodeposition effect of shrimp.

Effects of Periodical Salinity Fluctuation on the Growth, Molting, Energy Homeostasis and Molting-Related Gene Expression of Litopenaeus vannamei

To determine the response of Litopenaeus vannamei to periodical salinity fluctuation, a 30-day experiment was conducted in laboratory. In this experiment, two salinity fluctuation amplitudes of 4(group S4) and 10(group S10) were designed. The constant salinity of 30(group S0) was used as the control. Levels of shrimp growth, molting frequency(MF), cellular energy status(ATP, ADP and AMP), as well as the expression of genes encoding molt-inhibiting hormone(MIH), crustacean hyperglycemic hormone(CHH), ecdysteroid-regulated protein(ERP), and energy-related AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK) were determined. The results showed that periodical salinity fluctuation significantly influenced all indicators except MF which ranged from 13.3% in group S10 to15.4% in group S4. In comparison with shrimps cultured at the constant salinity of 30, those in group S4 showed a significant elevation in growth rate, food conversion efficiency, cellular energy status, ERP and MIH gene transcript abundance, and a significant reduction in CHH and AMPK transcript abundance(P < 0.05). However, salinity fluctuation of 10 only resulted in a significant variation in MIH and CHH gene expression when compared to the control(P < 0.05). According to our findings, L. vannamei may be highly capable of tolerating salinity fluctuation. When ambient salinity fluctuated at approx. 4, the increased MF and energy stores in organisms may aid to promoting shrimp growth.