FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

Order Aspidochirotida - Holothuriidae 1173
Bohadschia similis (Semper,1868)
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None.
FAO names: En - Brownspotted sandfish.
bivium with
brown spots
calcareous ring
spicules of tentacles
spicules of
dorsal podia
spicules of ventral podia (after Féral and Cherbonnier, 1986)
mouth ventral with
20 short tentacles
spicules of ventral
tegument
podia long
and slender
anus dorsal
spicules of dorsal
tegument
Diagnostic characters: Body cylindrical, flattened ventrally (trivium). Bivium smooth and rigid. Podia on
bivium long, slender, conical, and irregularly arranged; podia on trivium more numerous, shorter and
irregularly arranged on the radii and interradii; calcareous disc of podia around 400 µm in diameter. Mouth
ventral, surrounded by 20 short tentacles. Anus nearly dorsal, surrounded by 5 groups of radial
papillae. Calcareous ring with large radial pieces and narrow interradials having sharp tops. Cuvierian
tubules long and large. Colour: variable among specimens and localities; bivium beige to light brown,
showing characteristic brown spots; trivium lighter, yellowish. Spicules: ventral tegument with simple
nodules with or without holes and sparse rods giving rise to rosettes; dorsal tegument with rosettes and
small biscuit-like plates; ventral podia with variable rods; dorsal podia with X-shaped rods; tops of tentacles
with spiny rods.
Size: Maximum length about 26 cm, commonly to about 18 cm; mean live weight about 0.3 kg (up to 0.8 kg);
body-wall thickness about 4 mm.
Habitat,biology,and fisheries:Foundinveryshallowwaters,rarelyindepthsofmorethan3m;occursincoastal
lagoons or inner reef flats, generally burrowing in sandy-muddy bottoms. Populations can reach densities of
0.03/m 2 . Biology poorly known. May be harvested along with other reef flat species, such as Holothuria scabra,
when they occur together, but the sticky Cuvierian tubules make the collection and processing disagreeable.
Collectedbydivers.Theprocessed
product is not distinguished
from those of other Bohadschia
species and is of little commercial
value.
Distribution: Widespread in the
tropical Pacific, excluding Hawaii;
reported from the Mascarene
Islands, but not from elsewhere
in the Indian Ocean.