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Allometric relationships to assess ontogenetic adaptative changes in three NE Atlantic commercial sea cucumbers (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea)

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Abstract

Holothuria arguinensis, Holothuria mammata and Holothuria forskali are three common sea cucumber species found in the NE Atlantic, traded in international markets and susceptible to capture. Allometric relationships reveal if the scaling relationships between biometric characters are proportional with growth, being a useful tool to understand species growth strategies. Allometric relationships of the three species were estimated and compared between them and with populations from different regions. These allometric relationships revealed that the three species have negative allometric growth. However, they have different growth strategies between them and reveal different regional intra-specific growth strategies when compared to other populations, suggesting ontogenetic adaptation as a consequence of external factors.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Carlos from ICNF and João Gaspar From H20 Lisbon Dive Club for the field assistance and all the voluntaries who assisted our work: Rui, Joshua, Hugo, João Francisco, Mariana, Matilde and Daniel.

Funding

This study was financed by the Operational Program Mar2020 nº MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0052 “Newcumber—Avanços para o cultivo sustentável de pepinos-do-mar”. It received further financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia with project UIDB/04292/2020; A.C. Brito and A. Pombo through the Scientific Employment Stimulus Programmes (CEECIND/00095/2017 and CEECINST/00051/2018); and Francisco Azevedo e Silva through the individual research Grant 2020.09563.BD; Also, T. A. Marques and C. Rocha thank partial support by CEAUL (funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal, through the project UIDB/00006/2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    F. Azevedo e Silva, A. C. Brito, T. Simões & P. M. Félix

  2. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    A. C. Brito

  3. MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ESTM, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

    A. Pombo, J. Sousa & E. Venâncio

  4. CEAUL - Centro de Estatística E Aplicações, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    T. A. Marques & C. Rocha

  5. Centre for Research Into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, The Observatory, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    T. A. Marques

  6. Departamento de Estatística E Investigação Operacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    C. Rocha

  7. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    T. A. Marques & P. M. Félix

Authors
  1. F. Azevedo e Silva
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  2. A. C. Brito
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  3. T. Simões
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  4. A. Pombo
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  5. T. A. Marques
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  6. C. Rocha
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  7. J. Sousa
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  8. E. Venâncio
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  9. P. M. Félix
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Francisco Azevedo e Silva, Tomás Simões, Ana Pombo, Ana Brito, João Sousa and Eliana Venâncio. Statistical analysis was performed by Francisco Azevedo e Silva, Pedro Félix, Tiago Marques and Cristina Rocha. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Francisco Azevedo e Silva, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Azevedo e Silva.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed by the authors.

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Azevedo e Silva, F., Brito, A.C., Simões, T. et al. Allometric relationships to assess ontogenetic adaptative changes in three NE Atlantic commercial sea cucumbers (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea). Aquat Ecol 55, 711–720 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-021-09856-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-021-09856-3

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