''Astichopus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class (biology), 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 be ...

s, the only species in the genus being ''Astichopus multifidus''. It is commonly known as the furry sea cucumber or the fissured sea cucumber and is native to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

Description

''Astichopus multifidus'' is a robust, soft-bodied species growing to a maximum length of and width of . Both its

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

surfaces are uniformly covered with hundreds of

tube feet Tube or tubes may refer to: * Tube (2003 film), ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM#Tubes, Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a Japanese rock band * Tube & Berger, the alias of dance/e ...

, those on the dorsal surface being extended into papillae, fleshy conical projections about long with tube feet at their tips. This sea cucumber is chocolate brown or dark grey, sometimes mottled with paler patches or speckled with many small white spots.

Distribution and habitat

''Astichopus multifidus'' is native to the Caribbean region. Its range includes the West Indies, the southern tip of Florida, the

Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...

and the region of the

Campeche Bank Campeche Bank is part of the Gulf of Mexico and extends from the Yucatan Straits in the east to the Tabasco-Campeche Basin in the west. Campeche Bankin Geonames.org (cc-by)/ref> The Campeche ocean bank is from Mexico's geography of Campeche n ...

and southwards to Colombia and Venezuela. It is found on sandy seabeds near reefs and occasionally in

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s, at depths ranging between .

Biology

''Astichopus multifidus'' spends the day buried in the sand, emerging at night to feed. It is a

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume Corpse decomposition, dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a he ...

and

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, ...

and ingests large quantities of sediment from which organic matter is extracted as it passes through its gut. It can move much more rapidly than most sea cucumbers and can cover almost in a minute. Locomotion is mostly by crawling or rolling, but fast progress can be made by "bounding".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has rated ''Astichopus multifidus'' as being of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

". Other species of sea cucumber found in the Caribbean have been more heavily exploited than this species, but as stocks get depleted, it can be expected to be increasingly targeted. The population trend of ''Astichopus multifidus'' is unknown but its range includes some protected areas, and the gathering of sea cucumbers is illegal in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q18518960, from2=Q2491050 Fauna of the Caribbean Stichopodidae Monotypic echinoderm genera Taxa named by Hubert Lyman Clark Animals described in 1910