Holothuria atra is one of the most common sea cucumbers of intertidal zones in the tropical IndianPacific region. Asexual reproduction through transverse fission is a biological phenomenon which has already been studied, most notably in the south of the island of Taiwan (Chao & Chang, 1989; Chao et al., 1994), on the reefs of New Caledonia (Conand, 1989) and on the Great Barrier Reef in Austral...

The distribution of Nosema phyllotretae infection of Phyllotreta atra populations in Turkey is reported for the first time. In total, 48 of the 1668 beetles from 24 samples collected in five localities were infected by the parasite. Nosema infection was found in P. atra adults from only one of the five localities studied. The infection average was 2.8% and it reached 42.5% in some samples. The ...

Settlement and post-settlement processes of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra Jaeger were studied in the laboratory. Independent and paired choice experiments revealed that several substrates could induce metamorphosis into pentactulae, but that specific substrates favoured settlement. Leaves of seagrass Thalassia hemprichii, with or without their natural bio-film, yielded the highest settleme...

Taxonomic and biological aspects are presented on five species of shallow water holothurians from the Cayos Cochinos Biological Reserve-CCBR located on the northern Honduran shelf, western Caribbean at 16 degrees N, 86 degrees W. This article provides a taxonomic key of the recorded holothurians and morphometric/morphologic descriptions of their corresponding spicules. These five species belong...

Sea cucumbers produce numerous compounds with a wide range of chemical structural diversity. Among these, saponins are the most diverse and include sulfated, non-sulfated, acetylated and methylated congeners with different aglycone and sugar moieties. In this study, MALDI and ESI tandem mass spectrometry, in the positive ion mode, were used to elucidate the structure of new saponins extracted f...

BACKGROUND Holothuria arenicola is the most important and abundant sea cucumber species in the Mediterranean Sea on the Egyptian coast. The present study aims to assess the anti-oxidative and anticholestatic effects of the sea cucumber Holothuria arenicola extract (HaE) in a model of bile duct ligation in male albino rats. METHODS Fifty four male Wistar albino rats were assigned into two main...

BACKGROUND The dried form of sea cucumbers has been a seafood and medicinal cure for Asians over many centuries. In this study the chemical composition and nutritional quality of eight common sea cucumbers (Stichopus herrmanni, Thelenota ananas, Thelenota anax, Holothuria fuscogilva, Holothuria fuscopunctata, Actinopyga mauritiana, Actinopyga caerulea and Bohadschia argus) were determined. RE...

The sea cucumber (Holothuria atra) extracts have been evaluated for the presence of bioactive compounds and various biological activities. The methanol extracts showed anti proliferative activities against the Hela and MCF-7 cell lines. Similarly the inhibitory effects of Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 cells were detected using the plaque reduction assay. The extracts of H. atra were purified usi...

OBJECTIVE To determine lethal median dose (LD50) and histopathological toxicity of water extract of Holothuria atra (H. atra) in mice. METHODS The behavioral changes, mortality and histopathology examination on liver were assessed in mice 14 d after the administration (i.p.) of H. atra water extract. Seven doses (10, 20, 30, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg) of H. atra were used. The control group ...