Cross-shore Distribution and Life History of the Sea Cucumber Patinapta ooplax Inhabiting an Intertidal Sand Flat

A field study was undertaken on the cross-shore distribution and population structure of the sea cucumber Patinapta ooplax (Synaptidae) inhabiting an intertidal sand flat in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. Two transects of six or seven sampling points each were sampled at twoto three-month intervals from May, 2008 to February, 2009. The sea cucumber inhabited a zone between mean tidal level and mean low water of spring tide, irrespective of season. The gonad index showed a higher value in summer than in other seasons. Autotomized individuals occurred throughout the year, being most abundant in late autumn. Mean body size was smaller in autumn than in other seasons. Key words: autotomy, cross-shore distribution, gonad index, Patinapta, sea cucumber, tidal flat $ %& '( Patinapta ooplax ) *+, -+./0123 04-5 67 )89: 2007*, ;<-+ ;=>12 ?@A( (Huang 2001). BCD D '(E+, -F G HIJ, K DL'(MNFHIO PQ, !D '(RS TU VW X W Phyrella fragilis Y " (Chao et al. 1993a)Z, [\ Paracaudina chilensis #$] ^[\ _`a Pinnixa tumida Lb (Takeda et al. 1997),4c DdOe+, % &f g Lb (Kato 1998) Y " (Kubota 2000) $hicF @'27eO(DjkIO MN-+, ()$ *21D'(l $ mc ( $n(coD, +p,12+q,D1re $s-$tPe.u mc 4c, $*21D'(coD, /v D0< -wxmcy#DBz, #12{ Y3|} s-4~ $5mc E+,# €6 $7m, ‚z # 12 #@ƒ '(l '27eO( (Smith 1971; Emson & Wilkie 1980) -, MND„Oe F, 0 (34†27 N, 134†35 E)D„O e, /?wx$, 2008@ 5‡, 7‡, 9‡, 11‡, 2009@ 2‡ +$+6ˆ‰A€ 2Š3 p +‹DŒic .uB$, ODC 200 mD7c 2 & (A, B) DEr, K7Ž7+p,F‘Bz’D“ 1ie”•–—˜”$Erc ABG H™+, šI, B BG+šJ™-Aic K7Ž7 ”•–—˜”D=i e, 2 mp›-wxBG$EKmc A-+ 7BG, B-+ 6BG-Aic (Fig. 1).c‰m, 5‡ 11‡+, A, B F DL 4BG n-wxBmc BGœ D, 25 cm25 cm V•ž”$, A-+ 2y, B-+ 3y, OD 10 15 cmp›DEr, Ÿ V•ž”$$[ ¡¢-£zI@ 2,¤d1ic $wxmc wx¥:+, .uBD„r( ¥:@ 4 10 cm (n¦31) OCMN.u§ ̈D©a«, ¥6 15 cm4mc ’¬Oq .uBGDdOe+, 1 mm P A(­z z (25 cm25 cm)$®Qme, ¥6 15 cm4 šJ$w ̄m, ̄z°cšJ Bz $RSmewxmc wxy#+'±e2%75%3 ́μž¢-¶/mc '±e wxy# #1$T/m c #1+, ·¢ ž¢¶/mcy#$ ̧Qme, #A6 12€6 416$ 0.1 mmU14-/o-T/m Received 3 Sep. 2009 Accepted 2 Mar. 2010 Corresponding author 630 8506 !"# Japanese Journal of Benthology ¡–”» 1⁄41⁄2 65: 2 5 (2010)