Holothuria leucospilota
Source:IUCNTaxonomy
Assessment Information
- IUCN Red List Category and Criteria
- Least Concern ver 3.1
- Assessment language
- English
- Year published
- 2013
- Date assessed
- 2010-05-18 00:00:00 UTC
This species is widespread in the Indian and tropical Pacific, and is very common in some parts of its range. It is fished, but not intensively given its low commercial value. It is listed as Least Concern.
Geographic Range
Population
This is the most frequently encountered and abundant Holothuria spp, after Holothuria atra in the Indian Ocean. The common name is the white thread fish.
In Malaysia, this is among the most abundant species (Choo 2008). In Vietnam, there was overexploitation of sea cucumbers; after the boom in catches in the late 1980s the average catch per diver of this species dropped. Before 1997, there were catches of many hundreds of tonnes per year of this species, and after 1997 it decreased to less than 100kg (Choo 2008). In La Réunion, it is one of the dominant species (Conand 2008), present in all sampling stations with total mean densities of 0.59 ± 0.38ind*m-2. Highest densities were in back reefs (mean 0.84 ± 0.38ind*m-2 versus 0.39 ± 0.26ind*m-2 in inner reef flats), with a maximum density of 1.4 ± 0.7ind*m-2 in Planch-Alizés station (Conand and Frouin 2007).
Bonham and Held (1963) estimated the total number of individuals of this species at Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands to be about 200,000 around peripheries of the larger islets and some reef and lagoon areas.In Thailand, populations of this species have decreased in fishing areas (Bruckner et al. 2003).
Mean population density can exceed 0.5ind*m-1. Inshore, shallow water populations are denser, and composed of smaller individuals (Palomares and Pauly 2009).
Habitat and Ecology
It is often found in the intertidal area of the seaward sides of the islets at the edge of the reef-flat nearest shore (Marshall Islands). It can occupy pools of water from a few centimeters to about one half meter deep at low tide, and is occasionally entirely exposed (Bonham and Held 1963).
This species is a host to the pearl fish Encheliophis vermicularis (Eeckhaut 2004).
In the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), this species reproduces between November and March whilst in the Northern Territory (Australia) it does so in April. In the Cook Islands, the information available states that this species reproduces from January to April and in November and December, or from October to January (Kinch et al. 2008). In Taiwan Province of China, this species reproduces between June and September (Choo 2008). In La Réunion, it reproduces twice a year, the first one in February and the second one in May. It reaches SOM at 180g (Conand 2008).
| Habitats | Suitability | Major importance |
|---|---|---|
Threats
This species is fished in many parts of its range, but has a very low value.
In the Western Pacific Region, this species is commercially exploited in Guam, FSM, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji where it is consumed either whole or their intestines and/or gonads as delicacies or as protein in traditional diets; local consumption is of greater importance in times of hardship (i.e. following cyclones). In Southern Cook Islands, this species is exploited for their gonads by women and children all year long with special emphasis in the summer months. The removal of the organs does not seem to affect the general well being of the animal, with the wound healing afterwards. It is used in a subsistence fishery in Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga (Kinch et al. 2008). In Asia, it is fished in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. In countries of South East Asia, this species is known to be part of the "worm" sea cucumbers, lower value, higher volume species (Choo 2008). It is fished in Madagascar (Rasolofonirina 2007), and China (Chen 2004, Li 2004).
This species is subjected for a fishery to satisfy the aquarium trade, with animals being collected in the Solomon Islands and some probably also from the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Tonga and Kiribati (Kinch et al. 2008).
| title | scope | timing | score | severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Use trade
This species is fished in many parts of its range, but has a very low value.
In the Western Pacific Region, this species is commercially exploited in Guam, FSM, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji where it is consumed either whole or their intestines and/or gonads as delicacies or as protein in traditional diets; local consumption is of greater importance in times of hardship (i.e. following cyclones). In Southern Cook Islands, this species is exploited for their gonads by women and children all year long with special emphasis in the summer months. The removal of the organs does not seem to affect the general well being of the animal, with the wound healing afterwards. It is used in a subsistence fishery in Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga (Kinch et al. 2008). In Asia, it is fished in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. In countries of South East Asia, this species is known to be part of the "worm" sea cucumbers, lower value, higher volume species (Choo 2008). It is fished in Madagascar (Rasolofonirina 2007), and China (Chen 2004, Li 2004).
This species is subjected for a fishery to satisfy the aquarium trade, with animals being collected in the Solomon Islands and some probably also from the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Tonga and Kiribati (Kinch et al. 2008).