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seagrass lagoon

Sandfish sea cucumber
Holothuria scabra
Family Holothuriidae

The Sandfish sea cucumber is ocassionally seen on Chek Jawa. While small ones usually remain buried in the sand, larger ones might be found above the ground. These sea cucumbers have an obvious upper and underside. The upperside often has little folds and black bars; the guides jokingly refer to it as the 'Garlic bread' sea cucumber because that's what it looks like. The underside is flat and lighter in colour.

Sandfish Food: The Sandfish feeds on detritus gathering this with the 20 or so feeding tentacles that surround its mouth. Younger Sandfish are usually found nearer the shore. As they grow, they move into deeper waters to breed.

Home in a Sea Cucumber: Pea crabs (Pinnotheres sp.) are sometimes found living in their rear ends!

Human Uses: These harmless animals are among those species of sea cucumbers that are collected as a Chinese delicacy. They are gutted and dried for sale as ‘trepang’ or ‘beche-de-mer’. Sandfish, which can grow up to 40cm and weigh 1.5kg, are the most widely collected and among the more valuable sources of beche-de-mer. Tests indicate these sea cucumbers contain toxins. They must be properly prepared before they are safe to eat.

Status and threats: Such collection has been a traditional activity for centuries in many coastal peoples in many parts of the world ranging from Madagascar to the Philippines. However, the recent high market price of this delicacy has resulted in increased collection in last 20 years. In some areas, such sea cucumbers have become scarce. In others, specimens collected are smaller and have to be harvested from deeper waters. Efforts to culture these edible sea cucumbers have only just started. The Sandfish sea cucumber is listed among the endangered animals of Singapore. The main threat is habitat loss.

Upper side

Underside

quick facts
Those seen are usually 15-20cm, sometimes seen in the seagrass lagoon

Classification:
Class Holothuroidea
Phylum Echinodermata

See also ...
Echinoderms in general
Sea cucumbers in general

Links
Take the Sea Cucumber by Arjan Heinen: the story of sea cucumber harvesting in Danao Bay, Philippines and how it affected the lives of the fisherfolk there.
Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin on the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) website: details of the trade, impact on wild populations, efforts at hatching larvae and mariculture in various parts of the world including the Solomon Islands, Madagascar, Lamu Atoll, Washington State., Mexico, Australia.
TRAFFIC's Evaluation of the Trade of Sea Cucumbers in the Galapagos Islands during 1999: detailed information.
Naga, the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management Quarterly, Coastal Aquaculture Centre (CAC), Honiara, Solomon Islands: on efforts to farm sandfish from cultured larvae.
Twenty sea cucumbers from seas around India by D. B. James (PDF file): a brief section on sandfish and other sea cucumbers collected as beche-de-mer.
Sea cucumber fishery in the Philippines Sabine Schoppe: brief introduction
Life cycle of the pea crab Pinnotheres halingi: an abstract of a study on a symbiotic crab that lives in this sea cucumber's rear end!

Other references

Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore. The Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. 343 pp.
Tan, Leo W. H. & Ng, Peter K. L., 1988. A Guide to Seashore Life. The Singapore Science Centre, Singapore. 160 pp. online version
Schoppe, S., 2000. Echinoderms of the Philippines. Times Edition, Singapore. 144 pp.

a companion website to the chek jawa guidebook website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com

a companion website to the chek jawa guidebook
website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com