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Holothurian
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number being in the Asia–Pacific region. Sea cucumbers serve a useful role in the marine ecosystem as detritivores who help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus and other organic matter, after which microbes can continue the decomposition process. Sea cucumbers have a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad, are named for their overall resemblance to the fruit of the cucumber plant. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have a calcified dermal endoskeleton, which is usually reduced to isolated microscopic ossicles (or sclerietes) joined by connective tissue. In some species these can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armoured cuticle. In some abyssal or pelagic species such as '' Pelagothuria natatrix'' (orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elasipodida
Elasipodida is an order of sea cucumbers. They have numerous appendages, including conical papillae and leaf-like tentacles. Although many species are benthic, a number are pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ..., and may have their appendages modified to form sails or fins. Most members of the order inhabit deep-sea environments, such as the species of the genus '' Enypniastes''. Classification The following families are recognised in the order Elasipodida: * family Elpidiidae Théel, 1882 * family Laetmogonidae Ekman, 1926 * family † Palaeolaetmogonidae Reich, 2012 * family Pelagothuriidae Ludwig, 1893 * family Psychropotidae Théel, 1882 * family Deimatidae? Théel, 1882 Synonym of '' Benthodytes'', '' Psycheotrephes'', and '' Psychropotes''. Imag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apodida
Apodida is an order (biology), order of littoral to deep-sea, largely Fauna#Infauna, infaunal Holothuroidea, holothurians, sea cucumbers. This order comprises three families, 32 genus, genera and about 270 known species, called apodids, "without feet". Characteristics These sea cucumbers are vagile holothurians with an elongated shape (up to 3 meters for ''Synapta maculata''), worm or snake-like. Their shape is adapted for burrowing through the sediment, sometimes in a fashion similar to earthworms. Their mouth is surrounded with 10-25 pinnate or peltate tentacles. The absence of tube feet gives the order its name, ''Apodida'' meaning ''without feet'' : they move by crawling on the sediment, hence they need flat bottoms with few current. Members of this order have a circum-oral ring and tentacles, but do not have tube feet or radial canals. They also lack the complex respiratory trees found in other sea cucumbers, and Aquatic respiration, respire and excrete nitrogenous waste thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thelenota Ananas
''Thelenota ananas'', also known as pineapple sea cucumber, oloturia ananas, tripang, prickly skin cucumber, pointed teat sea cucumber, armoured sea cucumber, giant sea cucumber, sand fish or prickly redfish, is a species of Holothuroidea, sea cucumber found in tropics, tropical Indo-Pacific waters from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia. Description ''Thelenota ananas'' (pineapple sea cucumber) is a species of sea cucumber characterized by its large size, warm colors, and pointed, star-shaped teats covering the entire body, grouped in rows of 2 or 3, as seen in Figure 1. Their body is reddish-orange in color, with the teats slightly darker. They are able to reach up to 70 centimeters (28 in) in length, with a weight of between 3 kg to 6 kg, and have numerous large tube feet on the flat ventral side of their body. ''T. ananas'' is a slow growing organism. Environment The environment of ''T. ananas'' is found in clean, sandy bottoms of lagoons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actinopyga Echinites
''Actinopyga echinites'', commonly known as the brownfish or deep water redfish, is a species of sea cucumber in the family Holothuriidae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region and is harvested for food. Description ''Actinopyga echinites'' grows to a length of about . It is widest in the middle, tapering slightly at both ends; the dorsal surface is arched while the ventral surface is flattened. The leathery skin is rough, being covered in papillae. The skin is strengthened by the presence of spicules, microscopic spike-like structures, which in this species are shaped like large rods. The colour of this sea cucumber is brown above and orange-brown below, and the upper surface often has sand adhering to it. The anus is surrounded by five beige anal teeth, and the pinkish Cuvierian tubules are occasionally discharged through the anus when the animal is stressed. Distribution and habitat ''Actinopyga echinites'' is found off the coasts of Asia and Africa, in the tropic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biosphere. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. Although no two organisms decompose in the same way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of decomposition. Decomposition can be a gradual process for organisms that have extended periods of dormancy. One can differentiate ''abiotic'' decomposition from ''biotic'' decomposition ( biodegradation); the former means "the degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes", e.g., hydrolysis; the latter means "the metabolic breakdown of materials into simpler components by living organisms", typically by microorganisms. Animals, such as earthworms, also help decompose the organ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Ecosystem
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in Saline water, waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts-per notation, parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, Seagrass, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky Intertidal zone, intertidal s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritivore
Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants that eat detritus or carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. Detritivores should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter. Instead, these other decomposers live by absorbing and metabolizing on a molecular scale (saprotrophic nutrition). The terms ''detritivore'' and ''decomposer'' are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritus
In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Remineralisation, remineralise) it. Such microorganisms may be decomposers, detritivores, or coprophages. In terrestrial ecosystems detritus is present as plant litter and other organic matter that is intermixed with soil, known as soil organic matter. The detritus of aquatic ecosystems is organic substances suspended in the water and accumulated in depositions on the floor of the body of water; when this floor is a seabed, such a deposition is called marine snow. Theory The remains of decaying plants or animals, or their tissue parts, and feces gradually lose their form due to physical processes and the action of decomposers, including grazers, bacteria, and fungi. Decomposition, the process by which organic matter is decomposed, occurs in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organic Matter
Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come from the feces and remains of organisms such as plants and animals. Organic molecules can also be made by chemical reactions that do not involve life. Basic structures are created from cellulose, tannin, cutin, and lignin, along with other various proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. Organic matter is very important in the movement of nutrients in the environment and plays a role in water retention on the surface of the planet. Formation Living organisms are composed of organic compounds. In life, they secrete or excrete organic material into their environment, shed body parts such as leaves and roots and after organisms die, their bodies are broken down by bacterial and fungal action. Larger molecules of organic matter can be formed from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gonad
A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a Heterocrine gland, mixed gland and sex organ that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, produces sperm in the form of Spermatozoon, spermatozoa. The female gonad, the ovary, produces egg cells. Both of these gametes are haploid cells. Some hermaphroditic animals (and some humanssee Ovotesticular syndrome) have a type of gonad called an ovotestis. Evolution It is hard to find a common origin for gonads, but gonads most likely evolved independently several times. Regulation The gonads are controlled by luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), produced and secreted by gonadotropic cell, gonadotropes or gonadotrophins in the anterior pituitary gland. This secretion is regulated by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) produced in the hypothalamus. Development The gonads develop f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different developmental origin, structure and chemical composition. The adjective cutaneous means "of the skin" (from Latin ''cutis'' 'skin'). In mammals, the skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of ectodermal tissue and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments, and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Skin (including cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues) plays crucial roles in formation, structure, and function of extraskeletal apparatus such as horns of bovids (e.g., cattle) and rhinos, cervids' antlers, giraffids' ossicones, armadillos' osteoderm, and os penis/ os clitoris. All mammals have some hair on their skin, even marine mammals like whales, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia–Pacific
The Asia–Pacific (APAC) also Known as Indo-Pacific is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia are often included. In a wider context, Central Asia, North Asia, the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands, South Asia, West Asia (including the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant), and even Pacific Rim, Pacific-adjoining countries in the Americas can be included. For example, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) includes five economies (Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and the United States) in the New World (more standardly referred to as the Western Hemisphere). The term has become popular since the late 1980s in commerce, finance, and politics. Despite the heterogeneity of the regions' economies, most individual nations within the zone are emerging markets experiencing significant growth. Sometimes, the notion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
