부산대학교 도서관

The optimum growth temperature of sea cucumber is 18°C, above 20°C, the appetite declines and the digestive tract is atrophied. At 25°C or more, it is known that the digestive tract is degenerated as growth is stopped by minimizing metabolic activity. Because of these physiological and ecological characteristics, the growth period of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is relatively short in the natural environment of Korea where four seasons are clear. Therefore, maintenance of water temperature in sea cucumber culture is very important. This experiment was conducted to investigate the growth and lipid compositions of sea cucumbers at high temperature. Results showed that the growth and survival rates of sea cucumber were not significantly different until 26°C (P>0.01). The fatty acid compositions of total lipid of sea cucumber tended to increase with saturated fatty acid content and decrease with n-3 fatty acid content at higher water temperature.