EFFECTS OF NANNOCHLOROPSIS CONCENTRATION IN DIET ON GROWTH, SURVIVAL AND IL-10 PRODUCTION OF THE SEA CUCUMBER Apostichopus japonicus

Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus which has long been exploited as an important fishery resource in China, Japan and South Korea (Sloan, 1984). In recent years more and more farmers have started to feed the sea cucumbers with macroalgae to improve yield (Shi et al., 2013). Moreover, Sea cucumbers have many therapeutic effects against various diseases and have antiviral, anti-cancer, antibacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammation (Bordbar et al., 2011; Guo et al., 2015). In China and Malaysia, sea cucumbers have been traditionally used for the remedy of different inflammatory diseases like asthma. IL-10 is a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine but till now, there are no reports demonstrating the effect of sea cucumber on IL-10 production. Formulated diets for sea cucumbers are commonly made of macroalgal powder mainly Sargassum thunbergii. However, it is difficult to satisfy demand for sea cucumber culture because this algal species is not produced commercially. So, Reducing the S. thunbergii content of sea cucumber feed will be one strategy to increase the sustainability of the sea cucumber culture. Nannochloropsis oculata algae might be an important choice. In the present study,  the effects of different concentration of Nannochloropsis oculata algae in prepared feeds on growth, survival and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 production of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus were examined.