FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

1188 Holothurians
Stichopus variegatus Semper, 1868
FAO names: En - Curryfish; Fr - Trépang curry.
Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None.
calcareous ring
spicules of papillae
spicules of podia
mouth ventral,
with papillae and
20 tentacles
spicules of tentacles
(after Féral and Cherbonnier, 1986)
conical warts
spicules of tegument
papillae
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 conical warts, arranged in 8
longitudinal rows, with smaller papillae in between. Trivium with yellow to pink podia, arranged in rows
on the radii, their disc about 380 µm in diameter.Mouth ventral, surrounded by a circle of conical papillae
and 20 yellowish tentacles. Anus terminal. Calcareous ring with a deeply indented radial pieces and
small interradials. Cuvierian tubules absent. Colour: variable on bivium, yellow to greenish, with black
spots; trivium lighter. Spicules: tables in the tegument with 2 forms of discs, some being undulated, with
8 to 20 holes, while others form a denticulate disc with 4 central holes and a variable number of peripheral
holes; spire of tables with 4 pillars ending in a moderately spiny and perforated crown; some tables with
large disc and irregular crown also present; tables in papillae have a very large multiperforated disc; rosettes
cross-shaped, branching; X-shaped spicules occur in 3 different sizes; ventral podia with spiny rods and
large multiperforated plates showing pentagonal holes; tentacles with long, narrow, and spiny rods and X-,
S-, and C-shaped small spicules.
Size: Maximum length about 50 cm, commonly to about 35 cm; mean live weight about 1 kg (up to 2.5 kg);
body-wall thickness about 8 mm.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries: A shallow-water species, found in coastal reefs and lagoons, mostly from
near the surface to a depth of 25 m. Generally occurs in seagrass beds, rubbles, and muddy-sand bottoms.
Populations not reaching high densities, with a mean of around 0.005/m 2. Sexual reproduction takes place
during the warm season. A
species with a low potential
fecundity and late sexual
maturity. Probably rarely
collected as the tegument
disintegrates very easily,
resulting in a low commercial
value of the species.
Distribution: Widespread in the
tropical Indo-Pacific, excluding
Hawaii.