| Holothuria fuscopunctata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Holothuroidea |
| Order: | Holothuriida |
| Family: | Holothuriidae |
| Genus: | Holothuria |
| Species: | H. fuscopunctata |
| Binomial name | |
| Holothuria fuscopunctata | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Holothuria fuscopunctata, theelephant trunkfish,[1] is aspecies ofsea cucumber in thefamilyHolothuriidae native to shallow water in the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is placed in the subgenusMicrothele, making its full nameHolothuria (Microthele) fuscopunctata.[2]
A large sea cucumber,H. fuscopunctata reaches a maximum length of 70 cm (28 in), although a more usual length is about half this. It can weigh up to 4.5 kg (10 lb).[3] The body wall is thick and golden-brown with darker spots and dark brown wrinkles. The underside is whitish, the mouth being surrounded by twenty thick brown tentacles and the anus surrounded by a black band. Thecloaca is large and black, but there are noCuvierian tubules.[3]
H. fuscopunctata has a wide distribution in the tropical Indo-Pacific. Its range extends from Madagascar and the eastern coast of Africa to Japan, China, Australia and theMariana Islands,Palau andNew Caledonia. Its depth range is down to a maximum of 30 m (100 ft); it is common in some parts of its range, but scarce in thePhilippines,Federated States of Micronesia, andMarshall Islands. On the African coast it mostly occurs on sandy seabeds andseagrass meadows, but in the Central Pacific, it mostly occurs on reef slopes and on coral rubble, although it also lives in seagrass beds.[1]
This species feeds on organic material that it grazes on the seabed.[3] It is slow to mature and has lowfecundity. The sexes are separate and breeding takes place in the warm season, between December and January.[3]
Sea cucumbers are eaten in the Central Pacific.H. fuscopunctata is not particularly esteemed, but it is eaten as apoverty food in times of hardship, such as aftercyclones. It is mostly harvested byskin-diving, and is likely to face greater exploitation as other more favoured species become scarcer. There are fisheries in Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia; inMadagascar; in the Western Pacific, including theTorres Strait, and inTuvalu. For the time being, theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern", but it is vulnerable to over-exploitation because of its low fertility rate.[1]
