A genetic fingerprint recapture technique for measuring growth in 'unmarkable' invertebrates: negative growth in commercially fished holothurians (Holothuria nobilis)

A DNA fingerprinting technique based on amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was developed to identify individual beche-de-mer (Holothuria nobilis) and analyse their growth in the wild. A size comparison of 74 individuals over two 6 mo periods and of 25 individuals over 12 mo showed that 1 kg individuals grew slowly (64 to 128 g annually). Larger holothurians (>1.5 kg) consistently decreased in weight, suggesting a plastic nature of weight in individual holothurians. This technique holds promise for ecological studies and for providing accurate data for the management of holothurians and other invertebrates that are difficult to tag.