''Actinopyga fusca'' is a species of

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class (biology), class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number be ...

in the family

Holothuriidae Holothuriidae is a Family (biology), 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 s ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the shallow coastal waters of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, particularly around the island of Ilot Maître.

Taxonomy

The type locality of this species is Ilot Maître, New Caledonia. The

holotype specimen A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was Species description, formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illus ...

(MNHN IE 2013-17828) is deposited in the echinoderm collection of the

National Museum of Natural History, France The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the ...

Conservation status

As of its latest assessment in 2010, the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

considers ''Actinopyga fusca'' to be a

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

species. Accurate assessment of its conservation status is presently impossible due to the lack of population data, information regarding its distribution, habitat, ecology, and impact of major threats (if any exist), and a dearth of relevant occurrence records. It may be harvested as part of the Indo-Pacific sea cucumber fishery, but there is no evidence at this time suggesting it is commercially important. Nevertheless, what little ''is'' known about this species suggests that its distribution overlaps with several

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

s (MPAs) along the coast of New Caledonia, including one at its type locality of Ilot Maître.: "There are no known conservation measures in place for this species, but its distribution directly overlaps with marine protected areas in New Caledonia including one at the island of Maittre where this species is most highly concentrated."

References

Sources

* * (Assessment made 19 May 2010, published in 2013.) * * fusca Echinoderms of Oceania Endemic fauna of New Caledonia Animals described in 1980 Taxa named by Gustave Cherbonnier {{Holothuroidea-stub