''Euapta godeffroyi'', the sticky snake sea cucumber, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
sea cucumber
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothu ...
in the family
Synaptidae
Synaptidae is a family of sea cucumbers that have no tube feet, tentacle ampullae, retractor muscles, respiratory trees, or cuvierian tubules. They also lack radial canals of the water-vascular system, with only the circumoral ring present.
S ...
. It is found on coral reefs in the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Description
''E. godeffroyi'' is a long, slender sea cucumber growing to a length of about . A ring of fifteen feathery tentacles encircle the mouth. The body colour is creamy white with blotches of grey and a pair of longitudinal brown or greenish stripes. The spicules (microscopic calcareous structures that project through the skin) are a mixture of anchors and perforated plates with large holes.
Distribution and habitat
''E. godeffroyi'' is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from the Red Sea and Madagascar to Hawaii and Easter Island, and includes Indonesia, the Philippines, northern Australia and New Caledonia. It occurs at depths down to about in tidal pools, among stones and on sand.
[ It also occurs among rubble on the upper parts and slopes of reefs.][
]
Ecology
''E. godeffroyi'' is nocturnal and is a deposit feeder. It spends the day hidden among the rubble and corals. It emerges at night, crawling along using its anchor spicules for adhesion, and extending its tentacles onto the sediment which sticks to them; food particles are passed to the mouth where they are scraped off. The sea cucumber selects the more nutritious particles it finds and consumes several times its bodyweight each day.
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q13613674
Synaptidae
Animals described in 1868
Fauna of the Pacific Ocean