''Actinopyga mauritiana'', commonly known as the surf redfish, is a species of

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

in the family

Holothuriidae Holothuriidae is a family of sea cucumbers, a type of echinoderm. Description Members of the family Holothuriidae have thick fleshy bodies and several rows of tube feet which are used for moving around and for adhering to the surface. The body ...

. It is native to the tropical West Indo-Pacific region and is harvested for food.

Description

''Actinopyga mauritiana'' grows to a length of about , with a maximum width of . The body wall is rough, leathery, and has a maximum thickness of . The bivium is dark brown or orange in coloration, with occasional white spots, and is sometimes wrinkled. It is wider in the middle, and tapers out on either end. The bivium is also covered in long and slender papilles, which are typically dark orange or brown in coloration. The trivium is white in coloration, and covered in many stout podia. The anus is surrounded by twenty-five anal teeth, and the pinkish

Cuvierian tubules Cuvierian tubules are clusters of fine tubes located at the base of the respiratory tree in some sea cucumbers in the genera ''Bohadschia'', ''Holothuria'' and ''Pearsonothuria'', all of which are included in the family Holothuriidae. The tubules ...

, unlike other sea cucumbers, are never expelled.

Distribution and habitat

''Actinopyga mauritiana'' is found off the coasts of Asia and Africa, in the tropical

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Its range extends from as far east as the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

to as far west as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It is particularly common off the coast of Madagascar, where it can be found on the west coast from the south of

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

Nosy Be Nosy Be (formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of , and its population was 109,465 according to the provisional results of t ...

. It is found near outer reef flats and fringe reefs, and is more active during the day, when it feeds on substrate. It can be found in depths of .

Use as food

This species is harvested commercially for food throughout its range. It is used in the production of bêche-de-mer, which is consumed as a delicacy, and is of greater importance in times of hardship. It is harvested by 22 countries and island states in the Western Central Pacific, and is one of the top three species for local subsistence.

Status

Because it is easy to collect, it is over-exploited in many areas, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that populations have declined by 60 to 90% over at least 60% of its range. It further estimates that is overexploited in 25% of its range, and it has assessed the conservation status as vulnerable due to this.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2548717 Holothuriidae Fauna of the Indian Ocean Fauna of the Pacific Ocean Animals described in 1834 Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy Sea cucumbers as food