Summary[edit] Description: Holothuria mexicana Ludwig, 1875 - donkey dung sea cucumber. Holothurians (sea cucumbers) are bizarre animals. They lack the obvious pentaradial symmetry of other echinoderms (starfish, sand dollars, etc.). They have soft, elongated, flexible bodies. Their skeletons consist of numerous, tiny, calcareous sclerites embedded in the body wall or covering the outer surface of the body. In general, sea cucumbers are benthic and vagrant, slowly moving around on the seafloor. They use mucus to collect organic debris from the seafloor and then consume the debris-covered mucus. Some holothurians can discharge internal organs and toxins from their posterior in response to potential predators. Rough handling of sea cucumbers by people can result in the same discharge behavior. The light-colored blades covering this specimen are dead turtle grass (Thalassia). The dark brown-colored twiggy structures are Sargassum brown algae. Classification: Animalia, Echinodermata, Holothuroidea, Aspidochirotida, Holothuriidae Locality: Pigeon Creek estuary, southeastern San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas. Date: 14 March 2013, 14:37. Source: Holothuria mexicana (donkey dong sea cucumber) (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) 1. Author: James St. John.
PRESERVED_SPECIMEN; Preparations:Alcohol (Ethanol); Molpadia musculus Risso, 1826; Individual count:97; Type status: (no data); Identified by:Pawson, David L., Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History; Event date:19630101T00:00:00Z; Additional description: (no data)
Summary[edit] Description: Français : Le concombre de mer pélagique Pelagothuria natatrix observé dans les abysses au large des Galapagos.English: The only pelagic echinoderm : Pelagothuria natatrix (a sea cucumber). Image ID: expl6330, Voyage To Inner Space - Exploring the Seas With NOAA Collect Photo Date: 2011 July 15 Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011. Date: 16 July 2011, 21:51:23. Source: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/expl6330.htm. Author: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011. Permission(Reusing this file): : This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page. The Wikimedia Foundation has received an e-mail confirming that the copyright holder has approved publication under the terms mentioned on this page. This correspondence has been reviewed by an Volunteer Response Team (VRT) member and stored in our permission archive. The correspondence is available to trusted volunteers as ticket #2014091910006014. If you have questions about the archived correspondence, please use the OTRS noticeboard. Ticket link: https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&TicketNumber=2014091910006014.
If you look real close, you'll see the "teats." Those are actually tube feet. There are A LOT of sea cucumbers in the shallows around Kauai. And big ones. This one was only about 15 cm or so, but the biggest cukes I saw were about half a meter.
Holothuria mexicana, or donkey dung sea cucumber, in shallow water with Thalassia seagrass at Joulter Cays, north of Andros Island, Bahamas, in June 2000.
PRESERVED_SPECIMEN; Preparations:Alcohol (Ethanol); Molpadia musculus Risso, 1826; Individual count:97; Type status: (no data); Identified by:Pawson, David L., Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History; Event date:19630101T00:00:00Z; Additional description: (no data)
The original uploader was Elapied at French Wikipedia.
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Description: Français : Holothuria_leucospilota. Date: 23 March 2006 (original upload date). Source: Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons by Korrigan using CommonsHelper. Author: The original uploader was Elapied at French Wikipedia. Permission(Reusing this file): CC-BY-SA FR; CC-BY-SA-2.0-FR.
Woo SP, Zulfigar Y, Tan SH, Kajihara H, Fujita T (2015) Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species. ZooKeys 545: 1–26. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.545.6415
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