[4] Research has been undertaken into the reproduction and life cycle of Holothuria spinifera with a view to breeding it commercially for aquaculture or for sea ranching.

They then settled on the bottom and underwent metamorphosis into pentactula larvae with five short tentacles at the front and two tube feet at the back.

In the study, mortality of the larvae was about 95%, but this high rate was partly due to predation by copepods which the researchers were unable to eliminate from the tank.

[5] In Vietnam, a small bivalve shell, Entovalva nhatrangensis, is found living as an endosymbiont inside the oesophagus of Holothuria spinifera.

The sea cucumbers are easy to gather, slow to mature and need to congregate for successful reproduction and over exploitation has reduced populations.

Further research has been undertaken into the hatchery technology necessary for successful rearing and it is hoped to use juveniles to seed suitable areas of the sea bed to increase the size of populations.