{"id":4816,"date":"2026-03-28T07:58:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T07:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/?p=4816"},"modified":"2026-03-28T07:58:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T07:58:41","slug":"synergistic-effects-of-molasses-based-biofloc-and-sediment-integration-on-growth-and-survival-of-sandfish-holothuria-scabra-juveniles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/2026\/03\/28\/synergistic-effects-of-molasses-based-biofloc-and-sediment-integration-on-growth-and-survival-of-sandfish-holothuria-scabra-juveniles\/","title":{"rendered":"Synergistic effects of molasses-based biofloc and sediment integration on growth and survival of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) juveniles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pulished in: \u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/journal\/10499\">Aquaculture International<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10499-025-02362-5\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10499-025-02362-5<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sandfish\u00a0<em>Holothuria scabra<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most commercially valuable sea cucumber species worldwide due to its high market demand. In Sri Lanka, it supports income generation and the livelihoods of coastal communities; however, the nursery phase is often constrained by suboptimal growth and survival rates. This study evaluated the efficiency of biofloc systems as an improved nursery approach for\u00a0<em>H<\/em>.\u00a0<em>scabra<\/em>. A 6-week nursery trial was conducted under three treatments: biofloc only (T1), biofloc integrated with marine sediments (sandy-muddy; T2), and marine sediments only (T3; control) with triplicate. Nine fiberglass tanks (1500 L) were stocked with 15 juveniles per tank (mean initial weight 1.48\u2009\u00b1\u20090.11\u00a0g). Fishmeal served as the nitrogen source; molasses was added to maintain a C:N ratio of 15:1. Growth performance, water quality, biofloc volume, and microbial community composition were assessed. Final length, weight, and their gains were significantly (<em>p<\/em>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) higher in T2 than in T1 and T3. Specific growth rate (SGR) was significantly (<em>p<\/em>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) declined in T1 (0.70\u2009\u00b1\u20090.55% day<sup>\u22121<\/sup>). Survival was 100% in all treatments. Water quality parameters did not differ (<em>p<\/em>\u2009&gt;\u20090.05) among the three treatments. Total bacteria density was significantly (<em>p<\/em>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) higher in T1 and T2 than in T3. Microbial profiling revealed a higher abundance of\u00a0<em>Bacillus<\/em>\u00a0spp. in T1 and T2, whereas\u00a0<em>Vibrio<\/em>\u00a0spp. dominated in T3. In conclusion, the integration of biofloc\u2013sediment proved to be an economically viable sustainable nursery phase for\u00a0<em>H<\/em>.\u00a0<em>scabra<\/em>\u00a0juveniles, ensuring higher growth, no mortality and good microbial profile in zero-water-exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"670\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/Prof-Chamari.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/Prof-Chamari.jpg 670w, https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/Prof-Chamari-295x300.jpg 295w, https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/03\/Prof-Chamari-40x41.jpg 40w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\" data-id=\"4817\" \/><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pulished in: \u00a0 Aquaculture International DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10499-025-02362-5 The sandfish\u00a0Holothuria scabra\u00a0is one of the most commercially valuable sea cucumber species worldwide due to its high market demand. In Sri Lanka, it &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/2026\/03\/28\/synergistic-effects-of-molasses-based-biofloc-and-sediment-integration-on-growth-and-survival-of-sandfish-holothuria-scabra-juveniles\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Synergistic effects of molasses-based biofloc and sediment integration on growth and survival of sandfish (Holothuria scabra) juveniles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":4817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4818,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions\/4818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.sjp.ac.lk\/zoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}