Holothuroidea
Apodacea
Apodida
Molpadiida
Subclass Aspidochirotacea
Aspidochirotida
Elasipodida
Subclass Dendrochirotacea
Dactylochirotida
Dendrochirotida
</table>
The
sea cucumber is an
echinoderm of the
class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin. Mostly found on the sea bottom. It is so named because of its
cucumber-like shape.
Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin.
Sea cucumbers are generally scavengers, feeding on debris in the
benthic layer. Their
diet consist of
plankton and other organic matter found in the sea. One way they might get a supply of food in to position themselves in a current where they can catch food that flow by with their
tentacles when they open. Another way is to sift through the bottom sand using their tentacles.
They have the peculiar adaptation of eviscerating (or expelling) their internal organs when startled by a potential predator. These organs can then be regrown.
Sea cucumbers reproduce by broadcasting sperm and eggs into the ocean water. Depending on conditions, one organism can produce thousands of gametes.
Surprising as it may seem, sea cucumbers have inspired musical composition: in the first of his
Embryons desséchés Erik Satie presents the "(dessicated embryo) of a Holothuroidean" and inserts a description of the animal in the score:
- (...)
- The Holothuroidean crawls across bolders and rocky surfaces.
- This sea-animal purrs like a cat; also, it produces disgusting silky threads.
- Light appears to have an incommodating effect on it.
- (...)
The sea cucumber's closest relatives (the
echinoidea) get more attention from scientists, both as
embryos and as
fossils
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