White Thread Fish

Holothuria leucospilota

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–15 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsMarch and May
How commonOccasional

About this species

Holothuria leucospilota, commonly known as the black sea cucumber or black tarzan, is a species of marine invertebrate in the family Holothuriidae. It is placed in the subgenus Mertensiothuria making its full scientific name Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota. It is the type species of the subgenus and is found on the seabed in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Holothuria leucospilota”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 6 records
February: 6 records
March: 47 records
April: 25 records
May: 35 records
June: 23 records
July: 20 records
August: 14 records
September: 9 records
October: 16 records
November: 19 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–15 m · Deepest record: 695 m

0–10 m: 51 records
10–20 m: 4 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

18–20 °C: 8 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 10 records
24–26 °C: 33 records
26–28 °C: 21 records
28–30 °C: 36 records

Names and classification

English: White Thread Fish

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: ニセクロナマコ

Other scientific names: Halodeima dicorona, Holothuria (Halodeima) dicorona, Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota, Holothuria gelatinosa, Holothuria homoea, Holothuria infesta, Holothuria lagoena, Holothuria lamperti, Holothuria oxurropa, Holothuria vagabunda, Stichopus (Gymnochirota) leucospilota

Similar species

Black beauty
Holothuria atra
Pinkfish
Holothuria edulis
Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) hilla
Golden Sandfish
Holothuria scabra
Holothuria (Stauropora) pervicax
Bottleneck Sea Cucumber
Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
889 open-data records from 1835 to 2026.

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