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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 229 / Thursday, December 2, 2021 / Notices Maldives, and the west coast of India See Figure 5 in NMFS 2021; CITES
2019; Conand et al. 2013; Uthicke et al.
2004. The species does not occur in the waters of the United States or its overseas territories.

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Diet and Feeding H. nobilis like other sea cucumbers of the order Holothuriida are deposit and detritus feeders. They digest organic matter in the sediment such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, decaying plant matter, copepods, diatoms, foraminiferans, and fungi. Using their retractile tentacles, they ingest the top few millimeters of sediment and excrete less organic rich sediment Anderson et al. 2011; Purcell et al. 2016; Webster & Hart 2018.
Reproductive Biology Teatfish are gonochoristic i.e.
separate sex broadcast spawners, meaning males and females release their gametes into the water column and fertilization occurs externally Conand 1981; Conand 1986; Toral-Granda 2006.
H. nobilis do not exhibit sexual dimorphism, and sex of individual animals must be determined through microscopic examination of the gonads.
Teatfish have slow growth rates, maturing at about 37 years, and are thought to live for several decades Conand et al. 2013, FAO 2019. Conand et al. 2013 reported that H. nobilis mature at around 4 years of age.
Reproductive fitness is positively correlated with body size, with larger individuals having larger gonads that produce more gametes, thus exhibiting higher fecundity CITES 2019. As adults, they are non-migratory and relatively sedentary FAO 2019.
Environmental cues e.g., tidal conditions, lunar phases, temperature fluctuations and chemical cues trigger the release of gametes Purcell et al.
2010. H. nobilis is believed to reproduce annually during the cold season Purcell, Samyn & Conand 2012;
Conand et al. 2013; CITES 2019.
Successful fertilization depends upon sufficient population density and proximity of adults Purcell et al. 2010;
Purcell et al. 2011; CITES 2019; FAO
2019. Minimum population densities for successful reproduction have yet to be determined Purcell et al. 2011.
The oocytes of most sea cucumber species, which include teatfish, are small < 200 mm in diameter and are neutrally buoyant in the water column Purcell et al. 2010. Fertilized H.
nobilis eggs quickly develop into free-swimming larvaesometimes within a day Purcell et al. 2010. These larvae spend 5090 days in planktonic stage feeding on algae and may be
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widely dispersed by ocean currents Conand 2009; Purcell et al. 2010;
CITES 2019. One breeding trial found that the planktonic period of H. nobilis ranged from 4451 days Minami 2011.
After metamorphosis, sea cucumbers settle on the seafloor Conand 2009;
Purcell et al. 2010.
Population Structure H. nobilis was once considered to be H. fuscogilva, another species of teatfish, but was separated in 1980
Cherbonnier 1980. In 2004, H. nobilis was once again separated. H. nobilis now only occurs in the indian Ocean, while H. whitmaei, occurs in the Pacific Ocean Uthicke et al. 2004. The two black teatfish H. whitmaei, with distribution in the Pacific Ocean, and H.
nobilis, with distribution in the Indian Ocean appear to be allopatric with a genetic distance of 9.2 percent, implying a divergence during the Pliocene of approximately 1.84.6 million years ago Uthicke et al. 2004. Further molecular analyses support the distinction between H. nobilis and H. fuscogilva as different species Ahmed et al. 2016.
Apart from these genetic data indicating separation of H. nobilis and H. whitmaei Uthicke et al. 2004, there is very limited additional species-specific information regarding the population structure or genetics of H. nobilis populations.
Abundance and Trends Few standardized datasets documenting changes in teatfish species densities exist for any range countries.
This is due mostly to a lack of detailed historical data on early harvests Friedman et al. 2011. Sea cucumber fisheries are largely made up of artisanal fishers living in remote locations far removed from the enforcement of centralized fisheries management agencies and therefore have generally not been monitored long-term.
Additionally, few countries record catches or exports by species, making it difficult to determine the utilization of a single species. Despite sea cucumbers high commercial value, there have been no obvious extirpations of teatfish type of sea cucumber species at the national scale. However, declines in densities of teatfish individuals per hectare are reported from time series and snap-shot studies, and depletion of stocks have been observed Kinch et al. 2008; Hasan and El-Rady, 2012; Friedman et al.
2011; Lane and Limbong, 2013;
Ducarme 2016; FAO 2019. It is also important to note that similar to other teatfish species, H. nobilis is thought to be naturally rare when compared to other species of sea cucumber Purcell,
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pers. comm. 2019 in CITES 2019; CITES
2019; Conand et al. 2013; Uthicke et al.
2004.
While data on abundance and population trends for teatfish are lacking, they are even more sparse for H.
nobilis Anderson et al. 2011. The mean density of H. nobilis in areas where the species has been observed/
surveyed e.g., Chagos, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mayotte, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Zanzibar ranges from approximately 0.12 to 10
individuals per hectare CITES 2019. It is thought that H. nobilis once occurred at much greater densities Conand 2018, with anecdotal reports from sea cucumber collectors indicating that sea cucumbers, in general, were historically larger in size and more abundant Mmbaga 2013. Throughout the range of H. nobilis, this species is considered less abundant relative to previous surveys or anecdotal data or its status is uncertain or unknown based on a lack of data. In fact, in 18 of the 25 countries where H. nobilis is reported to occur, the abundance of the species and trends in abundance is very limited or unknown. The information available for the other seven range countries i.e, Chagos, Egypt, Madagascar, Mayotte, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, and Tanzania indicates that there are possible declines in abundance with one exceptionthe Seychelles, where it is reported to be stable Conand et al. 2013, FAO 2019, CITES 2019. Overall, while some quantitative data are available, the abundance and density trends of H.
nobilis across its range are poorly understood. Abundance information by country is summarized in Table 1 of NMFS 2021.
Extinction Risk Analysis NMFS relied on the best information available to conduct an extinction risk analysis through evaluation of four demographic viability factors and five threats-based listing factors. In determining the extinction risk of a species, it is important to consider both the demographic risks facing the species as well as current and potential threats that may affect the species status. To this end, a demographic analysis was conducted for H. nobilis and considered alongside the information presented on threats as detailed in the Status Review Report NMFS 2021.
A demographic risk analysis is an assessment of the manifestation of past threats that have contributed to the species current status and informs the consideration of the biological response of the species to present and future threats. This analysis evaluated the population viability characteristics and
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