Browsing by Author "Caldeirinha, Sara Alexandra Cardoso"
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- Development of purple sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus, Lamark 1816) cultivation in a marine lagoon production areaPublication . Caldeirinha, Sara Alexandra Cardoso; Ferreira, Pedro Marques Pousão; Engrola, Sofia Alexandra DiasSea urchin are marine and free-living animals from class Echinoidea and phylum Echinodermata. Sea urchin are one of the most commercially captured and overexploited echinoderms, their gonads, referred as “roe”, are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. With the increase in demand, and the overexploitation of the natural stocks, sea urchin aquaculture turned out to be the best solution to supply demand. In this study, two experiments were made to evaluate the production of the purple sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus (Lamark, 1816) in a marine lagoon environment, by testing different cultivation conditions. Two experimental systems were tested, separately, in an offshore cultivation condition, in the Ria Formosa, as well as the incorporation of an inert feed into the sea urchin diet, by using treatments with different diet compositions. These were compared with an onshore cultivation condition, at the Aquaculture Research Center (EPPO) in Olhão (Portugal). Samplings were made during the experiments, with the aim to assess the effects of location, diet and system performance, in the sea urchin’s development. A good sea urchin development was observed along the experiments, occurring weight increase of the sea urchin and its gonads, and gonads maturation.