Distribution and Habitats
Picture: Taken on Heron Island, located on the Great Barrier Reef, QLD, Australia. Shows S. chloronotus and H. atra on a sandy patch of the reef.
Stichopus chloronotus is found exclusively in reef areas and can be found in these habitats throughout the Indo-Pacific region (Clark and Rowe 1971). It is one of the most abundant holothurians on the Great Barrier Reef (Harriott 1980) and is frequently found on reef flats (Harriott 1980). They are found at depths ranging from 0 to approximately 20 metres in tropical and temperate seas (Rowe and Gates 1995). S. chloronotus individuals have been recorded on the Great Barrier Reef, in the Tasman Sea, and around nearly the whole of the Australian coast (Rowe and Gates 1995). Their distribution within a reef can vary significantly, although the reasons for this are not fully understood (Franklin 1980).
|