MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 36 (2): 209-217 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.47193/mafis.3622023010504
ABSTRACT. This study investigates the potential of locally available mosquito nets as an alter-
native material for sandfish ocean nurseries. Mosquito nets (~2 mm mesh) were designed into sin-
gle (SL), double (DL), and triple-layered (TL) to approximate the conventional hapa (CH) with ~1
mm mesh normally used in sandfish ocean nurseries. The study was conducted in Maliwaliw island
and in a cove in Buyayawon both located in Eastern Samar, Philippines. Results showed that TL had
the highest juvenile survival (35.93 ±10.56%) in Maliwaliw, which was significantly different (p<
0.05) from SL and DL. The DL design showed the highest survival (25.23 ±17.15%) in Buyayawon
by day 60, followed by TL (21.37 ±3.11%), although not statistically significant. On the other hand,
average growth rate was highest in SL in both sites where survival was also the lowest. Biomass,
however, was the highest in DL in Buyayawon (1,014 ±266 g m-2) followed by TL in Maliwaliw
(925 ±107 g m-2). Sandfish juvenile survival in DL and TL were higher than those in the CH in both
sites suggesting that mosquito nets can indeed be used as an alternative material for rearing early-
stage sandfish juveniles in floating ocean nurseries.
Key words: Ocean nursery, post-settled sandfish, growth, survival, Philippines.
¿Se pueden utilizar redes mosquiteras disponibles en el mercado para criar juveniles del
pepino de mar (Holothuria scabra) en jaulas oceánicas flotantes?
RESUMEN. Este estudio investiga el potencial de los mosquiteros disponibles localmente como
un material alternativo para los criaderos de pepinos de mar en el océano. Los mosquiteros (malla
de ~2 mm) se diseñaron en una sola (SL), doble (DL) y triple capa (TL), para aproximarse al hapa
convencional (CH) con malla de ~1 mm que normalmente se usa en los criaderos de pepinos de
mar en el océano. El estudio se realizó en la Isla de Maliwaliw y en una cala en Buyayawon, ambas
ubicadas al Este de Samar, Filipinas. Los resultados mostraron que el TL tuvo la supervivencia de
juveniles más alta (35,93 ±10,56%) en Maliwaliw, significativamente diferente (p<0,05) de los
diseños SL y DL. La DL obtuvo la mayor supervivencia (25,23 ±17,15%) en Buyayawon al día 60,
seguido de TL (21,37 ±3,11%), aunque no fue estadísticamente significativa. Por otro lado, la tasa
de crecimiento promedio fue más alta en SL en ambos sitios, en donde la supervivencia también fue
la más baja. La biomasa, sin embargo, fue más alta en DL en Buyayawon (1.014 ±266 g m-2) segui-
da de TL en Maliwaliw (925 ±107 g m-2). La supervivencia de juveniles de pepinos de mar en DL
y TL fue mayor que la de CH en ambos sitios, lo que sugiere que las redes mosquiteras pueden usar-
se como un material alternativo para criar juveniles de pepinos de mar en etapa temprana en jaulas
oceánicas flotantes.
Palabras clave: Criadero oceánico, pepino de mar bentónico, crecimiento, supervivencia, Filipinas.
209
*Correspondence:
mtdelacruz1909@gmail.com
Received: 16 January 2023
Accepted: 2 March 2023
ISSN 2683-7595 (print)
ISSN 2683-7951 (online)
https://ojs.inidep.edu.ar
Journal of the Instituto Nacional de
Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero
(INIDEP)
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License
Marine and
Fishery Sciences
MAFIS
TECHNICAL PAPER
Can commercially available mosquito nets be used for rearing sandfish
(Holothuria scabra) juveniles in floating ocean nursery?
MARGARITA DE LA TORRE-DE LA CRUZ*, JONH REY L. GACURA, RACELLE R. RESCORDADO and JANINE L. VILLAMOR
Guiuan Development Foundation, Inc., Guimbaolibot Avenue, Poblacion Brgy. 10, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, 6809, Philippines. ORCID
Margarita de la Torre-de la Cruz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6947-5632, Jonh Rey L. Gacura https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3265-0150,
Racelle R. Rescordado https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8290-7268, Janine L. Villamor https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3821-4488
INTRODUCTION
Holothuria scabra, commonly known as sand-
fish, are high-value sea cucumber species cul-
tured in the Philippines and other countries. The
success of sandfish grow-out culture largely
depends on the supply of sandfish juveniles. For-
tunately, the technology for juvenile sandfish pro-
duction in land-based hatcheries are well estab-
lished (Agudo 2006; Gamboa et al. 2012; Juinio-
Meñez et al. 2012). Post-settled hatchery-pro-
duced sandfish juveniles (<5 mm in length) are
transferred to ocean nursery systems (Agudo
2006; Gamboa et al. 2012; Juinio-Meñez et al.
2012; Mills et al. 2012) for further rearing. Sand-
fish culture techniques in nursery systems vary in
different countries. In Vietnam, and northern Aus-
tralia, pond nursery systems employ hapa nets
stocked with sandfish juveniles measuring 1-2
mm (Pitt and Duy 2004; Bowman 2012). In New
Caledonia, nursery systems follow two phases
(Agudo 2006). Early-stage juveniles (<5 mm) are
maintained in bare (without sand) tanks until they
reach a size of about 10-20 mm (1 g). Then, they
are transferred to tanks lined with a thin layer of
sand enriched with mud or food supplement.
While this hatchery-based nursery system has
shown good results, this is not practical in the
Philippines because of the high operating cost
and space limitations (Juinio-Meñez et al. 2012).
Marine ponds with sandy substrate are also not
common in the country. To address these bottle-
necks in sandfish juvenile production, the float-
ing ocean nursery system was developed (Juinio-
Meñez et al. 2012).
Ocean nursery rearing of early-stage sandfish
juveniles (~3 mm) uses a conventional hapa
made from fine nylon net with ~1 mm mesh size
(Gamboa et al. 2012; Sinsona and Juinio-Meñez
2019; Altamirano and Noran-Baylon 2020). Juve-
niles are reared for 30-60 d before released to sea
ranch or enhancement sites.
A study conducted in Bolinao (Pangasinan
province) comparing the growth and survival of
sandfish in ocean floating hapas and hapas in
ponds found that survival rates of juveniles in
both hapa systems were similar albeit with lower
average growth rates in ocean nursery (Juinio-
Meñez et al. 2012). Likewise, a study by Cabaca-
ba and Campo (2019) in Guiuan, Eastern Samar,
comparing the growth and survival of sandfish
juveniles in floating hapas and those in rearing
tanks, showed better growth of juveniles in the
floating hapas but lower survival rate. However,
the difference in the survival rate was not signifi-
cant. Same authors recorded 64.88% survival of
1,000 early sandfish juveniles stocked per hapa in
floating ocean nursery after 45 d of rearing, while
Altamirano and Noran-Baylon (2020) recorded
70.5% survival after 60 d. According to Juinio-
Meñez et al. (2012), ocean nurseries using float-
ing hapas are cost-effective and strategic for com-
munity-based grow-out and sea ranching. How-
ever, the fine nylon mesh net (~1 mm) used in
ocean nursery systems is not readily available in
local stores in Eastern Samar nor in Eastern
Visayas. They came from Western Visayas and
are rather expensive for small-scale fishers who
want to go into sandfish rearing. One piece of
locally available mosquito net costs only about
USD 3.00, whereas fine mesh nets cost USD
30.00 a piece, including handling and delivery
costs. Hence, this study was conducted to investi-
gate the potential of using locally available mos-
quito nets as an alternative material for rearing
early-stage sandfish juveniles in floating ocean
nurseries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Field experiments were conducted from March
to May 2021 in the nearshore waters of Barangay
(smallest political unit in the Philippines) Mali-
waliw, Salcedo (Site 1), and in Barangay Buyaya-
210 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 36 (2): 209-217 (2023)
won, Mercedes (Site 2) in Eastern Samar, Philip-
pines (Figure 1). Site 1 (11.10513° N-125.58088°
E) is adjacent to a mangrove and seagrass bed and
exposed to moderate to strong wave action. Site 2
(11.10886° N-125.69852° E) is a cove with min-
imal wave exposure, and water flow/circulation is
constrained by a provincial road cutting through
and made possible only through a short bridge.
Some houses are situated along the coastline of
the cove which could be a potential source of
nutrient inputs into the water.
Mosquito nets used has a dimension of 1.7 m ´
0.9 m ´1.2 m (length ´width ´height) and do not
have uniform mesh size. Because of the mesh size,
three designs were tried: single-layer (SL), dou-
ble-layer (DL), and triple-layer (TL) alternating
bigger and smaller mesh sizes. The DL and TL
were made by overlaying 2 and 3 mosquito nets,
respectively. To prevent flapping of the overlayed
nets while at sea, the bottom and sides of nets
were sewed horizontally and vertically (Figure 2).
For each site, 12 hapas were installed consisting
of triplicate of each mosquito hapa net design, and
the conventional hapa. Each hapa net is attached
to a rectangular frame (2 m ´1 m) made from
PVC pipe (4" diameter). To maintain the rectangu-
lar shape of the bottom, a rectangular perforated
(2 m ´1 m) frame made from 3/4" blue PVC pipe
were also attached to each hapa net. Improvised
sinkers made from re-used plastic bottles (~1 l)
filled with sand were also attached to the four cor-
ners of the hapa net.
Prior to stocking juveniles, nets were pre-con-
ditioned for three days, following nursery culture
211
DELATORRE-DE LA CRUZ ET AL.: SANDFISH OCEAN NURSERY CULTURE USING MOSQUITO NETS
Figure 1. Location of experimental sites in Eastern Samar, Philippines. Data Source: NAMRIA Administrative Map, GDFI
2022.WGS84. QGIS 3.16.
protocols (Gorospe et al. 2019; Sinsona and
Juinio-Meñez 2019; Altamirano and Noran-Bay-
lon 2020). Pre-conditioning allows colonization
of periphyton biofilm, which will serve as food
source for sandfish juveniles. Twenty-four thou-
sand early stage (50 d post-settlement) sandfish
212 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 36 (2): 209-217 (2023)
Figure 2. Diagram of experimental set-up: conventional hapa, dimension, and actual image of mesh size (A); and mosquito net
design, dimension, layering, sewn patterns, and actual image of mesh sizes of different layers (B).
0.9 m
1.2 m
Close up view of sewn layers
123
Mosquito net ayersl
Mosquito net dimension (the same with each net)
Vertical and horizontal sewn patterns
B
2.0 m
1.0 m
1.2 m
A
Actual mesh size of conventional hapa net
Conventional hapa net dimension
B1. Actual mesh size of
single-layer (SL) mosquito net
design
B2. Actual mesh size of double-
layer (DL) mosquito net design
B3. Actual mesh size of triple-
layer (TL) mosquito net design
1.7 m
juveniles were obtained from the Bureau of Fish-
eries and Aquatic Resources-Guiuan Marine
Fisheries Development Center (BFAR-GMFDC)
sea cucumber hatchery facility. To get the initial
weight, juveniles were photographed with scale
reference and length was measured using CPCE
V4.1 software. Body weight values were then
derived using the equation, W =0.000614*L2.407
(Purcell and Agudo 2013). Juveniles were then
packed in transparent polyethylene plastic bags
filled with seawater at 1,000 juveniles per bag.
Oxygen was pumped into each bag before closing
it tightly with a rubber band, and then transported
in a boat to the study sites in Maliwaliw Island,
and Buyayawon. Maliwaliw and Buyayawon are
approximately 8.74 and 6.15 nm away from the
BFAR-GMFDC hatchery, respectively. Juveniles
were acclimatized in situ for 5 min before they
were slowly poured out of the plastic bags into
each hapa net. Each net was stocked with 1,000
juveniles.
Mean weight, average growth rate (AGR), and
survival of stocked juveniles were monitored on
day 30 (D30) and 60 (D60). Average growth rate
(AGR) was calculated as the difference in the
final average weight and initial average weight
divided by the number of rearing days (Altamira-
no and Noran-Baylon 2020). Biomass was com-
puted as the ratio of the product of the number of
survival and mean weight divided by the bottom
area of the hapa. Survival of juveniles was moni-
tored by counting all surviving juveniles on D30
and D60. To avoid biofouling, nets were cleaned
every 15 d. Nets were replaced with precondi-
tioned nets on D30.
Growth and survival data among net designs
were analyzed using IBM* SPSS* Statistics Ver-
sion 21. Prior to analysis, all measurements and
computed data (e.g. AGR, biomass) were tested
for normality using Shapiro-Wilk Test (p>0.05).
The effect of site and hapa net layers on sandfish
mean weight, AGR, survival, and biomass on
D30 and D60 were analyzed using two-way
ANOVA. Where significant differences were
found, Tukey HSD was used as post-hoc test.
Where there is a statistically significant interac-
tion effect found (p<0.05), a simple main effects
analysis was carried out using the SPSS Statistics
syntax. Data on the conventional hapa for both
sites were excluded from the analysis since Mali-
waliw has missing hapa replicates due to
Typhoon Surigae.
RESULTS
On D30, DL had the highest mean wet weight
at Site 1 (2.38 ±0.69 g) and Site 2 (1.01 ±0.02 g)
(Figure 3). In contrast, SL recorded the lowest
mean weight at Site 1 (1.84 ±0.17g) and in TL at
Site 2 (0.89 ±0.11 g). However, results did not
significantly differ among net designs (p=
0.458). At D60, SL recorded the highest mean
weight in both Sites 1 (11.68 ±4.78 g) and 2 (9.87
±9.15 g), while TL recorded the least in both
Sites 1 (4.23 ±1.53 g) and 2 (4.71 ±0.55 g). Sta-
tistical analysis did not show significant differ-
ences among net designs (two-way ANOVA, p>
0.05). The mean weight of the surviving juveniles
in CH was 2.02 g, but from 1 hapa net only as two
of the CH nets were overturned during typhoon
Surigae (Bising) prior to D30 monitoring. At Site
2, the mean weight of juveniles in CH (0.93 ±
0.14 g) was second highest to DL, but differences
were not significant to all mosquito net designs.
With respect to location, Site 1 had significantly
bigger sandfish (2.04 ±0.46 g) on D30 regardless
of net design (p<0.05), but did not significantly
differ from Site 2 on D60.
Similar to the mean weight, significant differ-
ences of AGR between sites were found on D30
only. At Site 1, AGR of juveniles was highest in
DL followed by CH, while SL and TL had same
values. At Site 2, all mosquito net designs includ-
ing CH had the same AGR values (0.03 g day-1).
At D60, SL and DL had the highest AGR (0.19 g
day-1), while TL (0.07 g day-1) recorded the low-
213
DELATORRE-DE LA CRUZ ET AL.: SANDFISH OCEAN NURSERY CULTURE USING MOSQUITO NETS
est at Site 1. Similarly, SL (0.16 g day-1) had the
highest AGR at Site 2 followed by CH (0.12 g
day-1), while TL (0.08 g day-1) had the lowest.
However, values were not statistically different
between sites nor among net designs (p>0.05).
Significantly differing results in survival of
sandfish juveniles between sites and among net
designs were found during the culture period (p<
0.05). At D30, highest survival was recorded in
TL in both sites (36.53% and 27.07%, respective-
ly), while SL consistently had the lowest. At D60,
best survival was still observed in TL (35.93%) at
Site 1 while DL (25.23%) surpassed the TL
(21.37%) at Site 2, albeit not significantly (p=
0.607). The juvenile survival in DL was signifi-
cantly higher (p<0.05) at Site 2 than Site 1 at
D30 and D60. Interestingly, sandfish juveniles in
CH had low percentage survival with 25.30% for
one net only at Site1 and 11.13% at Site 2 on D60.
Biomass (g m-2) were significantly different (p
<0.05) between the SL, DL, and TL (p=0.001).
Moreover, there is a statistically significant dif-
ference between the biomass of sandfish reared at
Site 1 and Site 2 for TL (p=0.002). At D30, TL
biomass at Site 1 was highest (433.88 ±126.01 g
m-2) among all net designs and between sites. At
Site 2, DL had the highest biomass at (172.77 ±
123.34 g m-2) but did not significantly differ from
TL and SL at 159.18 ±41.77 g m-2 and 28.22 ±
43.20 g m-2, respectively. At D60, biomass in DL
(1014.17 ±455.14 g m-2) at Site 2 surpassed TL
(924.66 ±107.13g m-2) at Site 1, albeit not signif-
214 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 36 (2): 209-217 (2023)
Figure 3. Mean weight (A), average growth rate (B), percent survival (C), and biomass (D) of sandfish (Holothuria scabra)
reared in different sites (S1 =Maliwaliw, Salcedo, Eastern Samar; S2 =Buyayawon, Mercedes, Eastern Samar) using
different net designs (CH =conventional hapa; SL =single layer mosquito net; DL =double layer mosquito net; and TL
=triple layer mosquito net) from March to May 2021. Means with the same lower case indicate homogeneous groups
as determined by two-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post-hoc test (p <0.05).
-0 10.
-0 05.
0 00.
0 05.
0 10.
0 15.
0 20.
0 25.
0 30.
D30 D60
Culture eriodp
0 00.
5 00.
10 00.
15 00.
20 00.
25 00.
30 00.
35 00.
40 00.
D30 D60
Culture eriodp -400
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1 000,
1 200,
1 400,
D0 D30 D60
Culture eriodp
-5 00.
0 00.
5 00.
10 00.
15 00.
20 00.
D0 D30 D60
Culture eriodp
a
aaa
a
a
c
x
c
bb
b
c
cc
bb
b
a
a
aa
a
a
z
zz
xy
y
b
c
cc
ab
aab
b
aa
a
b
c
c
c
c
c
d
c
S1-CH S1-SL S1-DL S1-TL S2-CH S2-SL S2-DL S2-TL
Percent survival (%) Mean weight (g)
Biomass (g m )
-2
AGR (g day )
-1
AB
CD
icantly (p>0.05). Similar to growth and survival,
biomass produced in CH on D60 at Sites 1 and 2
(679.31 g m-2 and 398.20 g m-2, respectively) was
lower than that of TL in both sites.
DISCUSSION
This is a preliminary study on the potential of
using mosquito nets as an alternative material for
rearing early-stage sandfish juveniles in floating
ocean nurseries. Sandfish growth performance on
D30 at Site 2 was lower compared to those reared
at Site 1. Though food plays a vital role in the
growth and development of any organism, food
availability may not be a problem as Site 2 had
more food available indicated by the high chloro-
phyll-a, and ash-free dry weight (unpublished
data) of periphyton, which measures microalgae
and total biomass, respectively. Factors that may
have affected the growth performance of juve-
niles might be related to environmental parame-
ters in each site. According to Magcanta et al.
(2021), water salinity affects the growth of sand-
fish juvenile. High precipitation brought by
heavy rains and typhoon Surigae during the first
30 d of rearing could have lowered the water
salinity at Site 2 which has restricted water move-
ment. During this period, low surface water salin-
ity ranging from 20.95 to 25.40 was recorded for
Site 2. Altamirano et al. (2021) also noted poor
growth performance in sandfish reared in protect-
ed coves with less water movement than those
reared at sites exposed to relatively high-water
movements. However, this was more related to
the effects of flow velocity on biofilm coloniza-
tion in hapa nets rather than on water salinity.
Survival of sandfish juveniles in mosquito net
hapas during the first 30 d of rearing greatly
depended on the design (i.e. SL, DL, TL) which
may be due to the juvenile-size and mesh-size
relationship. Since sandfish juveniles stocked in
the hapas on D0 were only 1-5 mm in length,
many juveniles could have easily escaped from
the SL (~2 mm mesh) set-up. On the other hand,
some juveniles in DL and TL were found trapped
in between the net layers. In contrast, there is
nowhere to go for juveniles in SL but out to the
sea if they escape from the relatively big mesh
size of the mosquito net. Thus, the significantly
higher juvenile survival especially in TL can be
attributed to the net design.
The low survival in DL at Site 1 compared to
Site 2 may be due to higher exposure to wave
action. In addition, the impact of typhoon Surigae
may have caused juveniles to be ‘squeezed’ out of
the outer net. Conversely, survival of sandfish
juveniles in CH at Site 2 was lower compared to
the CH (remaining unit) at Site 1. This could be
due to the fouling of hapa nets at Site 2 which has
minimal water disturbance unlike Site 1. Such
condition allows faster biofilm accumulation and
subsequent fouling particularly as CH has very
fine mesh. Other factors such as handling, preda-
tion (Cabacaba and Campo 2019; Altamirano and
Noran-Baylon 2020), and salinity fluctuations
(Magcanta et al. 2021) during heavy rains also
affect growth and survival of sandfish juveniles.
While sandfish juveniles from SL had higher
mean weight at both sites, the juvenile survival
was incredibly low, and the resulting biomass is
also low (251 ±184 g m-2 and 214 ±455 g m-2 for
Site 1 and Site 2, respectively). This suggests that
SL is not suitable for rearing early-stage sandfish
juveniles. On the other hand, TL showed better
growth and survival performance in both sites.
Additionally, the survival of sandfish juveniles
from D31-D60 was high (98.63%) after restock-
ing, which was observed on D60. Unfortunately,
it is not possible to compare the growth and sur-
vival performance of TL and CH at Site 1, since
juveniles were lost when two replicate CH nets
got overturned during typhoon Surigae before the
D30 monitoring.
Results of this study demonstrated the poten-
tial of using mosquito nets in rearing early-stage
sandfish juveniles in ocean nursery systems. In
215
DELATORRE-DE LA CRUZ ET AL.: SANDFISH OCEAN NURSERY CULTURE USING MOSQUITO NETS
particular, the DL and TL designs can substitute
the CH. The sandfish biomass at Site 2 on D60
for DL and TL was much higher than that from
CH. Likewise, the biomass produced at Site 1 for
TL was also much higher than CH. Moreover,
the cost of the DL (USD 6.00) and TL (USD
9.00) per unit is significantly much lower than
that of the CH (USD 30.00). To validate the
results and improve ocean nursery systems of
sandfish with the use of mosquito nets, studies
on the effect of a) wet and dry seasons, b) clean-
ing frequency, c) predation, d) stocking density,
and e) food availability on the growth and sur-
vival of sandfish juveniles using DL and TL are
recommended.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the Australian
Center for International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR) through the (FIS/2016/122) ‘Increasing
technical skills supporting community-based sea
cucumber production in Vietnam and the Philip-
pines’ Sincere thanks to community partners in
Maliwaliw and Buyayawon, and to Mr Roy Fran-
cis M. Abuda for their assistance during the con-
duct of the study. The help of Mr Cristan Campo
in processing our data is also much appreciated.
Disclosure statement
All authors have read and approved the final
manuscript and declare that they have no con-
flicts of interest.
Data availability statement
The authors confirm that all relevant data and
its supporting information are within the manu-
script.
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