Molpadiidae is a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
sea cucumbers
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 Asi ...
, marine invertebrates with elongated bodies, leathery skins and tentacles that are found on or burrowing in the sea floor.
Description
Members of Molpadiidae are fairly small, plump sea cucumbers with a smooth or slimy skin and no tube feet. They are relatively inactive and live in a U-shaped burrow in sand or mud at the bottom of the sea, often at considerable depths. Their
tentacle
In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...
s spread out above the sediment to catch food particles.
Marine Species Identification Portal
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Genera
The following genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
are accepted as being in the family Molpadiidae:
*'' Cherbonniera'' Sibuet, 1974
*'' Heteromolpadia'' Pawson, 1963
*''Molpadia
In Greek mythology, Molpadia (Ancient Greek: Μολπαδία means 'divine song') may refer to the two different women:
* Molpadia, an Amazon who was said to have fought for both Antiope and Orithyia. She was a participant in the Attic War, ...
'' Cuvier, 1817
References
Molpadiida
{{Holothuroidea-stub