FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

Order Aspidochirotida - Holothuriidae 1167
Actinopyga echinites (Jaeger, 1833)
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / Actinopyga mauritiana (Quoy and Gaimard, 1833).
FAO names: En - Deep-water redfish.
radial
anus with
interradial
5 teeth
bivium with slender papillae
spicules of
tentacles
calcareous ring
spicules of
ventral podia
mouth ventral,
with 20 short and
stout tentacles
spicules of ventral tegument
(after Féral and Cherbonnier, 1986)
spicules of dorsal tegument
Diagnostic characters: Body elongate, arched dorsally (bivium) and flattened ventrally (trivium). Bivium
sometimes wrinkled and covered by sediment, wider in the middle and tapering towards both ends. Papillae
on bivium long and slender; podia on trivium arranged more or less regularly in 3 rows; calcareous disc
of podia around 350 µm in diameter. Mouth ventral, surrounded by 20 short, stout tentacles. Anus
surrounded by 5 anal teeth. Calcareous ring with large radial pieces and narrow interradials. Cuvierian
tubules few (10), short, pink, and never expelled. Colour: bivium brown, varying from light to dark among
specimens; trivium lighter, sometimes orange, with yellow podia. Spicules: ventral tegument with a variety
of small rosettes and rods, occasionally perforated; dorsal tegument with larger rosettes and branched
plates; ventral podia with some straight, spinous rods; tentacles with rods large, straight, or curved, and
very spiny at their extremities.
Size: Maximum length about 35 cm, commonly to about 20 cm; mean live weight 0.3 kg (up to 1 kg);
body-wall thickness about 7 mm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Dwelling in moderately shallow waters (despite its English common
name), rarely found in depths of more than 12 m; mostly on reef flats of fringing and lagoon-islet reefs.
Abundant in seagrass beds, on rubble reef flats, and compact flats where populations can reach high
densities (up to 1/m 2 ). Sexual reproduction during the warm season. A species with a high potential
fecundity and early sexual maturity. Harvested in artisanal fisheries throughout the area. Collected by hand
while wading on the reefs at
low tide. The processed
product is not distinguished
from those of other Actinopyga
species and has a moderate
commercial value.
Distribution: Widespread in
the tropical Indo-Pacific,
including the Red Sea, but
excluding the Persian Gulf and
Hawaii.