Aggregations of common holothurians on reef flats of Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef, North Western Australia

The distribution of three sea cucumbers (H. whitmaei (Bell 1887), H. atra (Jaeger 1933) and S. chloronotus (Brandt 1835) in the vincinity of Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia was measured. There was an emphasis on factors that may contribute to the heterogeneous distribution of H. whitmaei within broadly defined habitats and reasons for variable density estimates reported in the literature.本研究对澳大利亚西部宁格鲁礁（Ningaloo Reef）珊瑚湾（Coral Bay）周边海域的3种海参——霍氏海参（Holothuria whitmaei (Bell 1887)）、黑海参（Holothuria atra (Jaeger 1933)）及绿刺参（Stichopus chloronotus (Brandt 1835)）的空间分布开展了调查测定。研究重点聚焦于可能造成广域生境内部霍氏海参（H. whitmaei）分布呈现异质性的影响因素，以及当前文献中报道的该物种密度估算值存在差异的内在原因。