Fission Reproduction of Two Stichopudidae Species (Holothuria:Echinodermata)

There are two reproduction systems in seacucumber, i.e. sexual and asexual. Fission, as a way of asexual reproduction, is natural seacucumber ability to split their body into two part, and this natural fenomenon give possibility to conduct fission stimulation as seacucumber propagation. Present works are aimed to analyse fission capability of two Stichopudidae species of sea cucumber (Stichopus hermanii and S. chloronotus) from Karimunjawa Islands. Fission stimulation by rubber band tied was done in basket hanged on the sea cage. The fission was observed for 12, 24 and 48 hours. When fission occurred and wound recovered the sea cucumber were still kept in the basket and no food was added. This treatment continued until morphological recovery was completed. The time regeneration occurred after wounds recover was recorded. The result of present work revealed that stichopudidae species showed very good response to fission stimulation. After the entire process of fission, the bodywall at the fission site remained a liquid or mucus like consistency for at least two more hours. The following morning, the bodywall had its normal consistency and the wounds at both ends were nearly entirely closed. The fission process took several hours to two days and signs of regeneration appeared two to five weeks after fission. Fission simulation give shorter regeneration time for S. hermanii (2 week) than S. chloronatus.