The Andaman and Nicobar Islands offer one of the
most suitable habitats for sea cucumbers and sea urchins
due to the presence of sheltered bays and lagoons.
The sea cucumbers prefer muddy or sandy flats and
the sea urchins rocky coasts and algal beds. There
have been very few reports on these echinoderms of the
islands in the earlier years (Theel, 1882 ; Koehler and
Vaney, 1908 ; Koehler, 1927). More recently James
(1969) recorded several species of sea cucumbers and
sea urchins from the islands. A specific account of
the beche-de-mer resources of India was given by James
(1973). A cottage level export-oriented beche-de-mer
industry has been established in the Andamans since
1975. Kloss (1902) had made passing references to
this resource
