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.

本研究针对澳大利亚西部宁格鲁礁（Ningaloo Reef）珊瑚湾周边海域的3种海参——怀氏海参（Holothuria whitmaei，Bell 1887）、黑海参（Holothuria atra，Jaeger 1933）以及绿刺参（Stichopus chloronotus，Brandt 1835）的分布格局开展了定量测定。本研究重点探讨了可能导致怀氏海参在宽泛界定的栖息地内呈现异质性分布的影响因素，同时阐释了已有文献中该物种密度估算结果存在差异的成因。