Sea cucumbers

PHOTO

The temperate holothurian Taeniogyrus australianus, Long Reef, Sydney, New South Wales, October 1977.
Photo: Bill Rudman.

Sea Cucumbers are Echinoderms, related to Starfish, Sea Urchins and Brittle Stars. They are placed in the Class Holothuria, and so are often called holothurians. They feed by collecting fine organic particles which form a layer on the sea bottom, with the ring of feathery oral tentacles which encircle their mouth. In the tropics Sea Cucumbers are collected, the gut removed and the skin dried for food. In this condition they are known as beche de mer (bêche de mer), trepang and sometimes sea slugs.

See Bohadschia graffei juvenile - a potential holothurian mimic of the nudibranch Phyllidia varicosa.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (June 18) Sea cucumbers. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/seacusec

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