Sea cucumber
| Sea Cumcumbers |
|---|
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.
- (...)
de:Seewalzen ja:ナマコ