Synaptidae is a family 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 ...

s that have no

tube feet Tube feet (technically podia) are small active tubular projections on the oral face of an echinoderm, whether the arms of a starfish, or the undersides of sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers; they are more discreet though present on bri ...

, 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. Synaptids have elongated bodies, and their size varies significantly from small to quite large. '' Synapta maculata'' grows to two metres in length. They are quite active, moving by means of waves of peristaltic contractions. Their tegument is somewhat sticky because of the anchor-like spicules that project through the skin.Marine Species Identification Portal
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Genera

According to

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific speciali ...

: * ''

Anapta ''Anapta'' is a genus of sea cucumbers 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 th ...

'' Semper, 1867 -- 3 species * '' Dactylapta'' Clark, 1908 -- 1 species * †'' Eoleptosynapta'' Reich in Reich & Ansorge, 2014 -- 1 species * †'' Eorynkatorpa'' Reich in Reich & Ansorge, 2014 -- 1 species * '' Epitomapta'' Heding, 1928 -- 3 species * ''

Euapta ''Euapta'' is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Synaptidae. Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species : *''Euapta godeffroyi'' (Semper, 1868) *''Euapta lappa ''Euapta lappa'', the beaded sea cucumber, is ...

'' Östergren, 1898 -- 4 species * '' Eupatinapta'' Heding, 1928 -- 2 species * '' Labidoplax'' Östergren, 1898 -- 5 species * '' Leptosynapta'' Verrill, 1867 -- 33 species * '' Oestergrenia'' Heding, 1931 -- 9 species * ''

Opheodesoma ''Opheodesoma'' is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Synaptidae. Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, ...

'' Fisher, 1907 -- 10 species * '' Patinapta'' Heding, 1928 -- 6 species * ''

Polyplectana ''Polyplectana'' is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Synaptidae. The type species is ''Polyplectana kefersteinii''. Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species : *'' Polyplectana galatheae'' Heding, 1928 *''P ...

'' Clark, 1908 -- 12 species * '' Protankyra'' Östergren, 1898 -- 37 species * '' Rhabdomolgus'' Keferstein, 1862 -- 1 species * '' Rynkatorpa'' Rowe & Pawson, 1967 -- 13 species * '' Synapta'' Eschscholtz, 1829 -- 2 species * ''

Synaptula ''Synaptula'' is a genus of sea cucumbers, in the family Synaptidae. This genus contains many species, most of them whitish, often associated with sponges. However, they are extremely difficult to identify from sight, and many tropical Indo-Pac ...

'' Örstedt, 1849 -- 29 species

Gallery

Image:Euapta godeffroi.jpg, '' Euapta godeffroyi'' Image:Euapta lappa.jpg, '' Euapta lappa'' Image:Opheodesoma grisea.jpg, ''

Opheodesoma grisea ''Opheodesoma'' is a genus of sea cucumbers in the family Synaptidae. Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, ...

'' Image:Polyplectana kefersteinii.jpg, '' Polyplectana kefersteinii'' Image:Synapta maculata 2.jpg, '' Synapta maculata'' Image:Synaptula lamperti (Sea cucumber).jpg, ''

Synaptula lamperti ''Synaptula lamperti'' is a species of sea cucumber in the family Synaptidae in the phylum Echinodermata, found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. The echinoderms are marine invertebrates and include the sea urchins, starfish and sea cucu ...

References

Echinoderm families {{Holothuroidea-stub