FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

Order Aspidochirotida - Stichopodidae 1187
Stichopus horrens Selenka, 1867
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: Stichopus godeffroyi Semper, 1868 / None.
FAO names: En - Selenka’s sea cucumber.
calcareous ring
spicule of tentacles
mouth ventral,
with papillae and
18 tentacles
irregular warts
spicules of podia spicules of papillae spicules of tegument
(after Féral and Cherbonnier, 1986)
anus
terminal
Diagnostic characters: Body firm, rigid, squarish in cross-section, flattened ventrally (trivium); body wall
easily disintegrates outside sea water. Bivium covered with irregular warts, arranged in 10 longitudinal
rows; warts larger near mouth. Trivium delimited by a characteristic double row of large papillae (4 to 5
mm); stout podia arranged in 4 rows, on 3 radial bands, their disc about 350 µm in diameter. Mouth ventral,
surrounded by a half row of papillae and 18 brown, short tentacles. Anus terminal. Calcareous ring
with a deeply indented radial pieces and triangular interradials. Cuvierian tubules absent. Colour: bivium
whitish to grey, with brown irregular dots; trivium lighter. Spicules: very characteristic rosettes, X-shaped,
or elongate, numerous in the tegument; presence of numerous C-shaped spicules of 3 sizes; ventral
tegument with tables of 2 sizes; some tables have a circular disc with 4 central and about 15 peripheral
holes, bearing a spire with 4 pillars ending in a moderately spiny and cross-shaped crown; tables with a
larger disc also present, more perforated, with a higher, spiny crown; only the first kind of table found in
the dorsal tegument; tables in papillae provided with large multiperforated disc, with a long, conical, smooth
spire, ending in a single point; ventral papillae containing long, smooth rods; ventral podia have long rods,
with a central apophysis, and large, elongate, multiperforated plates; tentacles with large rods, either curved
with few spines, or straight and very spiny.
Size: Maximum length about 40 cm, commonly to about 20 cm; mean live weight about 0.2 kg (up to 0.5 kg);
body-wall thickness about 2 mm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A reef species, mostly found in shallow areas from near the surface to a
depth of 15 m; generally occurs in rubbles, or hidden in reef flats. A nocturnal species. Populations not
reaching high densities, with a mean of around 0.007/m 2. Biology poorly known. Probably not harvested,
as the tegument disintegrates too quickly.
An aquaculture programme for this
species is presently being carried out, for
stock enhancement purposes.
Distribution: Widespread in the tropical
Indo-Pacific.