Mass mortality of the black sea cucumber Holothuria atra after heavy rainfall at Hsiao Liouciou Island, Southern Taiwan

10.29926/platax.202312_20.0007

Shu-Yu Chao；Li-Lian Liu；Chen-Pan Liao；Shyh-Min Chao

Holothuria atra ； marine ecology ； mass mortality ； rainfall ； sea cucumber ； Taiwan

Platax

2023卷（2023 / 12 / 01）

79 - 87

英文

In August 2021, after 15 days of heavy rainfall, a mass mortality event of the common black sea cucumber Holothuria atra was observed in the intertidal zone of "Duzaiping," Hsiao Liouciou Island, Southern Taiwan. The density of H. atra halved: from 5.60+1.42 m^(-2) individuals (mean±std.dev; n=20) in May of 2020 to 2.66+1.34 individuals m^(-2) (mean±std.dev; n=5) in September of 2021. The total number dropped from 198,000 to 94,000 across a 35,400 m^2 study area (mortality rate=52.5%). We surmise that the continuous heavy rainfall, in addition to high temperatures during low tide, were the major contributing factors that led to this sea cucumber die-off.