Species composition, relative abundance and distribution of sea cucumber in the intertidal zone of East Cab-ilan Island, Province of Dinagat Islands, Philippines

Abstract

The species composition, abundance and distribution of sea cucumbers in the intertidal zone of East Cab-ilan Island, Province of Dinagat Islands, Philippines were assessed using a transect-quadrat method. Sampling was done once at the two identified sampling stations in three replicates. A total of 10 species were found namely Holothuria scabra, H. leucospilota, H. fuscopunctata, H. hilla, H. fuscocinerea, H. pervicax, Actinopyga echinites, A. mauritiana, A. miliaris and Bohadschia marmorata. The most abundant species found were the Holothuria scabra, H. hilla and Actinopyga echinites. A. echinites was the only common species found in both stations. Results revealed that there was no significant difference in salinity between stations (p > 0.05). However, species diversity, temperature and pH differ significantly in East Cab-ilan Island (p < 0.05). The non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (nMDS) based on square-root transformed abundance data showed clear segregation of samples between two stations. Cluster analysis also revealed that there is no close relationship of the samples between Station 1 and Station 2. SIMPER analysis also showed that there was a high dissimilarity percentage in both stations. Some species of sea cucumbers and their distribution were influenced by physico-chemical parameters such as pH and temperature.