Southern Sea Cucumber (Australostichopus mollis) is a temperate sea cucumber of rocky reef and mixed benthic habitats around New Zealand.
See Southern Sea Cucumber clearly
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Specialist care plan required
Aquarium suitability has not yet been established for this record. Available observations do not constitute an acquisition recommendation.
Species-specific SaltCorner account flags not reef/fish-only suitable and identification-only/not collected for home trade. Available research maintenance or aquaculture findings do not establish a complete home display plan; retain known settings and unresolved fields, reassess against an actual source-population care programme.
Research observations remain contextual evidence only, not numeric aquarium recommendations. Adult source-matched recommendations remain unresolved.
Outstanding care evidence
- temperature_c: Species-matched adult numeric maintenance not established for this field in retrieved evidence.
- specific_gravity: Species-matched adult numeric maintenance not established for this field in retrieved evidence.
- ph: Species-matched adult numeric maintenance not established for this field in retrieved evidence.
- Species-specific SaltCorner account flags not reef/fish-only suitable and identification-only/not collected for home trade. Available research maintenance or aquaculture findings do not establish a complete home display plan; retain known settings and unresolved fields, reassess against an actual source-population care programme.
Acquisition assessment
Aquarium setting: Suitability review required. Starvation risk: high.
Species-specific SaltCorner account flags not reef/fish-only suitable and identification-only/not collected for home trade. Available research maintenance or aquaculture findings do not establish a complete home display plan; retain known settings and unresolved fields, reassess against an actual source-population care programme.
Only after identity, source temperature, natural diet, adult size, and food supply are verified.
- No unidentified specimen
- No purchase without a quantified feeding plan
- No unstable salinity
- No copper exposure
- No home-aquarium acquisition recommendation until a source-matched adult food, water and housing plan is established.
Assessment sources and scope
- WoRMS — Australostichopus mollis
- New Zealand Fisheries — sea cucumber
- TFH — Sea-cucumber aquarium suitability
- Slater and Carton — mussel-farm polyculture trials
- 2012 Australostichopus mollis juvenile temperature and feeding experiment
- Zamora and Jeffs (2012), juvenile temperature, feeding and growth
- Morgan (2009), Australostichopus hatchery egg/larval quality
- Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-culture
- Bob Goemans: species aquarium suitability
Reported culture conditions
These are source-specific observations, not a home-aquarium prescription.
Research observations remain contextual evidence only, not numeric aquarium recommendations. Adult source-matched recommendations remain unresolved.
Husbandry Findings and Limits
These findings explain what the cited evidence supports. Facility precautions are identified separately from tested captive outcomes.
2026-10-14 care follow-up — Documented keeping guidance; not a controlled trial
Use a temperate, source-water-matched system with accessible productive sediment and continuous water renewal. The 619-day juvenile co-culture method used natural seawater at roughly 13–21 °C seasonally; warmer periods coincided with reduced growth. Review biomass against food-bearing sediment capacity and reduce stocking if growth declines. Treat the documented cage geometry as experimental context, not an aquarium minimum. Evidence limit: Salinity and pH operating numbers are not reported. Obtain the supplier’s measured source-water history; closed-system renewal and adult capacity require a specialist design. The seasonal range is not a physiological tolerance interval. SaltCorner identifies this species as not collected for home aquarium trade; research co-culture evidence does not make a home aquarium care recommendation.
Scope and remaining limit: Research observations remain contextual evidence only, not numeric aquarium recommendations. Adult source-matched recommendations remain unresolved.
Sources: Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-culture · Bob Goemans: species aquarium suitabilitySpecialist evidence review — October 2026 — Captive observation within source scope
Use a temperate, source-water-matched system with accessible productive sediment and continuous water renewal. The 619-day juvenile co-culture method used natural seawater at roughly 13–21 °C seasonally; warmer periods coincided with reduced growth. Review biomass against food-bearing sediment capacity and reduce stocking if growth declines. Treat the documented cage geometry as experimental context, not an aquarium minimum. Evidence limit: Salinity and pH operating numbers are not reported. Obtain the supplier’s measured source-water history; closed-system renewal and adult capacity require a specialist design. The seasonal range is not a physiological tolerance interval. SaltCorner identifies this species as not collected for home aquarium trade; research co-culture evidence does not make a home aquarium care recommendation.
Scope and remaining limit: Research observations remain contextual evidence only, not numeric aquarium recommendations. Adult source-matched recommendations remain unresolved.
Sources: Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-culture · Bob Goemans: species aquarium suitabilityScientific Care Evidence
These findings distinguish a demonstrated method from an unanswered question. A supported finding applies within the named study or institutional scope; experimental settings are not universal safe limits.
Long-term feeding and housing — Partial evidence
Species-matched mussel-waste feeding and six-month polyculture maintenance support scoped practical food/housing guidance.
Scope and remaining limit: The retrieved abstracts do not supply a complete closed-tank sediment-renewal recipe or lifelong balanced ration.
Sources: Australostichopus mollis mussel-farm polyculture · Juvenile temperature/feeding experimentWater, space and stocking — Partial evidence
The long juvenile method supports a provisional natural-water/sediment operating approach, but not all numerical water, permanent enclosure or stocking limits.
Scope and remaining limit: Salinity and pH operating numbers are not reported. Obtain the supplier’s measured source-water history; closed-system renewal and adult capacity require a specialist design. The seasonal range is not a physiological tolerance interval.
Sources: Zamora et al. (2014): Australostichopus mollis oyster co-cultureSource methods and retrieval scope
- Australostichopus mollis mussel-farm polyculture
Earlier retrieval retained: Fresh institutional repository abstract; six-month field culture · Abstract reviewed
- Zamora et al. (2014): Australostichopus mollis oyster co-culture
Fresh full primary 619-day juvenile culture study; natural marine water and sediment beneath oyster farms. · Full text reviewed
- Juvenile temperature/feeding experiment
Earlier retrieval retained: Fresh indexed primary abstract; 105-day juvenile trial · Abstract reviewed
Scientific sources reviewed 2026-10-03.
Care Questions and Limits
These practical answers explain the supported guidance and the limits that matter when caring for this organism. Read them with the suitability assessment and the sources. A completed practical review does not establish a complete lifetime or breeding protocol.
Long-term feeding and housing
Plan a maintained sediment-food system, not a one-time bed of clean sand. Species-matched culture used mussel-farm deposits, and a 105-day juvenile experiment supplied mussel waste as food. This gives a real food-source starting point for specialist keeping: confirm sediment ingestion and continuing condition while managing renewal and water quality. Farm densities cannot simply be transferred to a closed display.
Evidence limit: The retrieved abstracts do not supply a complete closed-tank sediment-renewal recipe or lifelong balanced ration.
Sources: Slater and Carton — mussel-farm polyculture trials · 2012 Australostichopus mollis juvenile temperature and feeding experimentWater, space and stocking
Use a temperate, source-water-matched system with accessible productive sediment and continuous water renewal. The 619-day juvenile co-culture method used natural seawater at roughly 13–21 °C seasonally; warmer periods coincided with reduced growth. Review biomass against food-bearing sediment capacity and reduce stocking if growth declines. Treat the documented cage geometry as experimental context, not an aquarium minimum.
Evidence limit: Salinity and pH operating numbers are not reported. Obtain the supplier’s measured source-water history; closed-system renewal and adult capacity require a specialist design. The seasonal range is not a physiological tolerance interval.
Sources: Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-cultureReferences and scope
Species-specific field polyculture and laboratory sediment feeding
- WoRMS — Australostichopus mollis
- New Zealand Fisheries — sea cucumber
- TFH — Sea-cucumber aquarium suitability
- Slater and Carton — mussel-farm polyculture trials
- 2012 Australostichopus mollis juvenile temperature and feeding experiment
- Zamora and Jeffs (2012), juvenile temperature, feeding and growth
- Morgan (2009), Australostichopus hatchery egg/larval quality
- Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-culture
Practical guidance reviewed 2026-10-03. Remaining research uncertainties are retained in the care evidence section.
Habitat and Distribution
A temperate sea cucumber of rocky reef and mixed benthic habitats around New Zealand. Its documented range includes New Zealand, Southwestern Pacific, Temperate reefs.
Feeding and Ecological Role
It is a deposit feeder that consumes organic material associated with bottom sediments.
Conservation and Responsible Sourcing
Verify locality, fishery rules, and lawful origin. Verify legal origin, collection method, and current trade requirements before acquisition.
Sediment food can become limiting
A six-month study of Australostichopus mollis beneath mussel farms found density-dependent growth, with food limitation at the highest tested density. Laboratory animals also consumed mussel-farm sediment. The findings concern a particular sediment resource and aquaculture setting.
What this means for aquarium care
MLL planning guidance: monitor renewable sediment food and body condition, rather than assuming dirty sand is adequate. Experimental farm density and survival are not aquarium stocking rules or proof of a complete nutritional plan.
Evidence update and care limits
Aquacultured juveniles were fed mussel waste during a 105-day temperature experiment. This supports an exact-species deposit-food method for that stage. Experimental temperature treatments do not establish a lifelong operating range or prove adequate food in clean aquarium sand. MLL monitoring plan: Measure growth and document available organic food in the intended substrate; retain juvenile-stage and culture-origin records.
A living record
Foundation profile reviewed against the World Register of Marine Species. Media are bound only where the source record explicitly establishes the species. Historical filenames and combinations remain in provenance, while the profile and publication binding use the accepted taxon. Public content last reviewed October 2, 2026.
- World Register of Marine Species — Australostichopus mollis ↗Taxonomic authority
- Slater and Carton — mussel-farm polyculture trials ↗Reference source
- 2012 Australostichopus mollis juvenile temperature and feeding experiment ↗Reference source
- Zamora and Jeffs (2012), juvenile temperature, feeding and growth ↗Reference source
- Morgan (2009), Australostichopus hatchery egg/larval quality ↗Reference source
- Zamora et al.2014: sea cucumber/oyster co-culture ↗Reference source