BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2015, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 146-149

Abundance and distribution of the Japanese sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867) (Echinodermata: Stichopodidae), in nearshore waters of the southern part of the Far Eastern Marine Reserve

© 2015 V. N. Lysenko¹, V. V. Zharikov², A. M. Lebedev²

¹Far Eastern Marine Reserve, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041;
²Pacific Geography Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041

E-mail: ;

The spatial and size-frequency distribution of the Japanese sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, in the Far Eastern Marine Reserve and non-protected parts of Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan, was studied by using both SCUBA diving equipment and a remotely operated underwater vehicle SUB-fighter 3000. Abundance of Japanese sea cucumber and pattern of its distribution over the Southern part of the reserve are determined. It has been found that the density of sea cucumber aggregations in the studied non-protected parts of Peter the Great Bay is not lower than that over the major portion of the reserve.

Key words: Far Eastern Marine Reserve, Apostichopus japonicus, state of population.