World of Sea Cucumbers

Annie Mercier is a Professor at the Department of Ocean Sciences of Memorial University (Canada) where she pursues wide-ranging research interests around marine benthic communities and their response to exogenous factors and environmental stressors. She and her team study life-history strategies and species interactions at various scales in a broad variety of taxa (with a focus on echinoderms, molluscs, and cnidarians) from coastal, polar and deep-sea environments. Her areas of expertise also include the management and conservation of ecologically and commercially important marine species. As of 2022, Annie Mercier had co-edited 4 academic books, and co-authored more than 200 scientific publications, including 12 refereed chapters, over 130 peer-reviewed articles and several technical reports. She also holds editorial positions inside two scientific journals and co-chairs the IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Group on Sea Cucumbers. Prior to her faculty position at Memorial University, Annie Mercier conducted research in the Indo-Pacific islands together with her partner Jean-François Hamel. Their research on the fundamental biology and reproductive habits of key commercial sea cucumbers, in partnership with international organizations (FAO, IUCN, CITES) and foreign institutions, facilitated the development of numerous fisheries and aquaculture programs. The pair also published popular books and articles on wildlife, diving, and environmental issues, and assisted with the production of museum exhibitions and film documentaries. To this day, they continue to work, publish and deliver conferences on the ecology and management of marine resources in Canada and abroad. Jean-François Hamel is a research scientist and co-founder of the Society for the Exploration and Valuing of the Environment, based in Canada. He conducts fundamental studies on the diversity of life-history strategies in boreal and tropical marine invertebrates world-wide, with a focus on echinoderms and cnidarians, and an interest in their management and conservation. He specializes in the interplay between environmental factors and the ecology of early life stages. As of 2022, he had co-edited 4 academic books, and co-authored 12 refereed book chapters, over 130 peer-reviewed articles and several technical reports, totalling more than 200 scientific publications. As an echinoderm specialist with over 35 years of experience, Jean-François Hamel has worked around the world (e.g. Brazil, Belize, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Panama, Solomon Islands), often with his partner Annie Mercier, in collaboration with international organizations (FAO, IUCN, CITES) and foreign institutions. He regularly travels as a scientific consultant to deliver presentations and help with the development of sea cucumber nurseries, grow-out facilities and sea ranching initiatives. He is also building partnerships with Northern communities of Canada around the sustainable exploitation of benthic resources. Aside from being passionate scientists and fierce advocates of marine resources conservation, Jean-François Hamel and Annie Mercier have authored numerous popular articles on wildlife, diving, aquarium hobby, travel destinations and environmental issues in magazines around the world. They also write coffee table books and are periodically involved in the production of film documentaries Andy Suhrbier is a Research Biologist at the Pacific Shellfish Institute (Olympia, Washington, USA) where he focuses on multiple aspects of marine molluscs and echinoderms. For over 22 years he has been involved in aquaculture development, marine benthic/water quality studies, mapping of marine habitats including eelgrass and aquaculture, project development and management. He developed shellfish certification standards for the west coast shellfish industry for the certification entity: "The Food Alliance¿. He maintains 4 water quality monitoring station...

Section I: Background and Overview
1. An overview of taxonomic and morphological diversity in sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea: Echinodermata)
2. Perspectives on sea cucumber knowledge syntheses
3. A journal dedicated to holothuroids: the SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin

Section II: Sociology
4. The McDonaldization of the Sea Cucumber: Changes in Foodways of an Ancient Delicacy in Northeastern Asia
5. Sea cucumbers in Chinese daily life
6. Beyond beche-de-mer : sea cucumber in non-traditional food products, health supplements, and biotechnology
7. Mystery, Muse, Monster: Sea cucumbers in popular culture
8. Women in sea cucumber fisheries and aquaculture - can we make their participation equal and fair?
9. Artisanal processing and consumption of sea cucumbers: stories from the Philippines and Fiji Islands
10. Importance of sea cucumber fisheries and trade for small island communities: a case study in Papua New Guinea
11. Aspects of the Relationship between the Giant Red Sea Cucumber, Apostichopus californicus, and the Indigenous People of the Northwest Coast of North America
12. Perspectives on sea cucumber use and research in the Canadian Arctic with special attention to Sanikiluaq (Qikiqtait, Nunavut)
13. Sea cucumber crime

Section III: Biology
14. Knowledge of biodiversity and reproduction in sea cucumbers from southern South America to Antarctic Peninsula
15. Adult fission as an auxiliary reproductive mode in holothuroids, with a detailed look at Holothuria atra and Stichopus chloronotus
16. Morphological diversity, development, and biology of sea cucumber larvae
17. Biology and ecology of wild juvenile sea cucumbers: what do we know?
18. A preliminary survey and analysis of beaching events involving sea cucumbers
19. Autotomy (evisceration) and regeneration of dendrochirotid sea cucumbers
20. Locomotor, feeding, and reproductive behaviours of sea cucumbers with a focus on Apostichopus japonicus
21. Swimming sea cucumbers
22. Glowing sea cucumbers: Bioluminescence in the Holothuroidea
23. Diversity of coelomocytes in the class Holothuroidea
24. Vibratile cells and hemocytes in sea cucumbers - clarification and new paradigms

Section IV: Ecology
25. Chemical ecology of sea cucumber reproduction
26. Decorator sea cucumbers: an overview of epibiotic associates of Holothuria floridana and H. mexicana
27. Adaptations of pearlfish (Carapidae) to their life inside sea cucumbers
28. Sediment processing: the foremost ecological role of tropical deposit-feeding sea cucumbers
29. Gut microbiota of sea cucumbers, with a focus on Apostichopus japonicus
30. Sea cucumbers under ocean acidification and warming
31. Sea cucumbers in a high temperature and low dissolved oxygen world: an overview focusing on Apostichopus japonicus
32. Sea cucumber response to microplastic pollution

Section V: Re...