Sea Cucumbers
A Sea Cucumber
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Subphylum: Echinozoa Class: Holothuroidea
Orders
Subclass Apodacea Apodida Molpadiida Subclass Aspidochirotacea Aspidochirotida Elasipodida Subclass Dendrochirotacea Dactylochirotida Dendrochirotida

The sea cucumber is an echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor worldwide. It is so named because of its cucumber-like shape. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, but this can actually be absent in some species.^{[citation needed]} Scientific classification redirects here. ... Phyla Subkingdom Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subkingdom Agnotozoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Subkingdom Metazoa Radiata Cnidaria Ctenophora - Comb jellies Bilateria Protostomia Acoelomorpha Platyhelminthes - Flatworms Nemertina - Ribbon worms Gastrotricha Gnathostomulida - Jawed worms Micrognathozoa Rotifera - Rotifers Acanthocephala Priapulida Kinorhyncha Loricifera Entoprocta Nematoda - Roundworms Nematomorpha - Horsehair worms Cycliophora Mollusca - Mollusks Sipuncula - Peanut worms Annelida - Segmented... Classes Asteroidea Concentricycloidea Crinoidea Echinoidea Holothuroidea Ophiuroidea Echinoderms (Echinodermata) is a phylum of marine animals found in the ocean at all depths. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... Families Family Chiridotidae Family Myriotrochidae Family Synaptidae The Apodida is an order of littoral to deep-sea, largely infaunal holothurians. ... Families Holothuriidae Stichopodidae Synallactidae Aspidochirotida is an order of echinoderms. ... Families Family Rhopalodinidae Family Vaneyellidae Family Ypsilothuriidae Dactylochirotida is an order of sea cucumber (class Holothuroidea). ... These have branched tentacles. ... Subphyla & Classes Homalozoa Gill & Caster, 1960 Homostelea Homoiostelea Stylophora † Ctenocystoidea Robison & Sprinkle, 1969 Crinozoa Crinoidea Paracrinoidea † Regnéll, 1945 Cystoidea †von Buch, 1846 Asterozoa Ophiuroidea Asteroidea Echinozoa Echinoidea Holothuroidea Ophiocistioidea Helicoplacoidea † Arkarua † Homalozoa † Pelmatozoa † Edrioasteroidea † Blastozoa † Blastoidea † Eocrinoidea †Jaekel, 1899 † = extinct Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata, from the Greek for spiny skin... A class is the rank in the scientific classification of organisms in biology below Phylum and above Order. ... This article is about the fruit. ... Endoskeleton of a swordfish An endoskeleton is an internal support structure of an animal. ...

Overview

Sea cucumbers exist in a wide variety of appearances

Sea cucumber in Fiji

Sea cucumber in Mahé, Seychelles ejects sticky filaments from the anus in self-defence.

A sea cucumber feeding while on gravel

Sea cucumbers are generally scavengers, feeding on debris in the benthic zone of the ocean. Exceptions include pelagic cucumbers and the species Rynkatropa pawsoni, which has a commensal relationship with deep-sea anglerfish.^[1] The diet of most cucumbers consists of plankton and decaying organic matter found in the sea. Some sea cucumbers position themselves in currents and catch food that flows by with their open tentacles. They also sift through the bottom sediments using their tentacles. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,632 × 1,224 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,632 × 1,224 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 675 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (882 × 784 pixels, file size: 625 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 675 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (882 × 784 pixels, file size: 625 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Holothuroidea_(Sea_cucumber_feeding). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Holothuroidea_(Sea_cucumber_feeding). ... For a person who scavenges, see Waste picker. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Scale diagram of the layers of the pelagic zone. ... Suborders Antennarioidei Lophioidei Ogcocephalioidei See text for families. ... In nutrition, the diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. ... This article is about the real-life under-sea organisms. ... Ocean currents (1911) Ocean currents (1943) An ocean current is any more or less continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. ... Tentacles can refer to the elongated flexible organs that are present in some animals, especially invertebrates, and sometimes to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Some species of coral-reef sea cucumbers within the order Aspidochirotida can defend themselves by expelling their sticky cuvierian tubules (enlargements of the respiratory tree that float freely in the coelom) to entangle potential predators. When startled, these cucumbers may expel some of them through a tear in the wall of the cloaca in an autotomic process known as evisceration. Replacement tubules grow back in one-and-a-half to five weeks, depending on the species.^[2] Families Holothuriidae Stichopodidae Synallactidae Aspidochirotida is an order of echinoderms. ... Picture of Human body cavities - dorsal body cavity to the left and ventral body cavity to the right. ... In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, urinary, and genital tracts of certain animal species. ... Autotomy (from the Greek auto = self- and tomy = severing) or self amputation is the act whereby an animal severs one of its own appendages, usually as a self-defence mechanism designed to elude a predators grasp. ... Disembowelment is evisceration, or the removing of vital organs, usually from the abdomen. ...

They can be found in great numbers on the deep sea floor, where they often make up the majority of the animal biomass.^[3] The body of deep water holothurians is made of a tough gelatinous tissue with unique properties that makes the animals able to control their own buoyancy, making it possible for them to either live on the ocean floor or to float over it to move to new locations with a minimum of energy.^[4]

In more shallow waters, sea cucumbers can form dense populations. The strawberry sea cucumber (Squamocnus brevidentis) of New Zealand lives on rocky walls around the southern coast of the South Island where populations sometimes reach densities of 1,000 animals per square metre. For this reason, one such area in Fiordland is simply called the strawberry fields.^[5] Fiordland is a region of New Zealand that is situated on the south-western corner of the South Island. ...

Sea cucumbers extract oxygen from water in a pair of 'respiratory trees' that branch off the cloaca just inside the anus, so that they 'breathe' by drawing water in through the anus and then expelling it.^[6][7] A variety of fish, most commonly pearl fish, have evolved a commensalistic symbiotic relationship with sea cucumbers in which the pearl fish will live in sea cucumber's cloaca using it for protection from predation, a source of food (the nutrients passing in and out of the anus from the water), and to develop into their adult stage of life. Many polychaete worms and crabs have also specialized to use the cloacal respiratory trees for protection by living inside the sea cucumber.^[8] In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, urinary, and genital tracts of certain animal species. ... This article is about the bodily orifice. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... In ecology, commensalism is a kind of relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other is not significantly harmed or helped (like a bird living in a tree). ... Subclasses Palpata Scoleoida Tomopteris from plankton The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. ... For other uses, see Crab (disambiguation). ...

Ten percent of the blood cell pigment of the sea cucumber is vanadium. Just as the horseshoe crab has blue blood rather than red blood (colored by iron in hemoglobin) because of copper in the hemocyanin pigment, the blood of the sea cucumber is yellow because of the vanadium in the vanabin pigment^[9]. Nonetheless, there is no evidence that vanabins carry oxygen, in contrast to hemoglobin and hemocyanin. A blood cell is any cell of any type normally found in blood. ... General Name, symbol, number vanadium, V, 23 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 5, 4, d Appearance silver-grey metal Standard atomic weight 50. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 The horseshoe crab, horsefoot, king crab, or sauce-pan (Limulus polyphemus, formerly known as Limulus cyclops, Xiphosura americana, Polyphemus occidentalis) is a chelicerate arthropod. ... “Red cell” redirects here. ... Structure of hemoglobin. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... Single Oxygenated Hemocyanin protein from Octopus Hemocyanins (also spelled haemocyanins) are respiratory proteins containing two copper atoms that reversibly bind a single oxygen molecule (O2). ... Vanabins (also known as vanadium-associated proteins or vanadium chromagen) are a class of metalloproteins containing vanadium. ... This article is about the chemical element and its most stable form, or dioxygen. ...

Sea cucumbers reproduce by releasing sperm and ova into the ocean water. Depending on conditions, one organism can produce thousands of gametes. For other uses, see Sperm (disambiguation). ... A human ovum An ovum (loosely, egg or egg cell) is a female sex cell or gamete. ...

The largest American species is Holothuria floridana, which abounds just below low-water mark on the Florida reefs. This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ...

The most common way to separate the subclasses is by looking at their oral tentacles. Subclass Dendrochirotacea has 8-30 oral tentacles, subclass Aspidochirotacea has 10-30 leaflike or shieldlike oral tentacles, while subclass Apodacea may have up to 25 simple or pinnate oral tentacles and is also characterized by reduced or absent tube feet, as in the order Apodida.^{[citation needed]} Look up Pinnate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Families Family Chiridotidae Family Myriotrochidae Family Synaptidae The Apodida is an order of littoral to deep-sea, largely infaunal holothurians. ...

Sea cucumbers as food and medicine

Dried sea cucumbers in a Chinese pharmacy

"To supply the markets of Southern China, Macassan trepangers traded with the Indigenous Australians of Arnhem Land. This Macassan contact with Australia is the first recorded example of trade between the inhabitants of the Australian continent and their Asian neighbours." Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 964 KB) Dried sea cucumber. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 964 KB) Dried sea cucumber. ... Alternative meaning: In geology, North China (continent) and South China (continent) were two ancient landmasses that correspond to modern northern and southern China. ... Location of Makassar in Indonesia Coordinates: , Country Indonesia Province South Sulawesi Government  - Mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin Area  - City 175. ... Trepanging is the collection or harvesting of sea cucumbers, also called trepang. One who does this activity is called a trepanger. ... Language(s) Several hundred Indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religion(s) Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group... Arnhem Land is an area of 97,000 km² in the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, Australia. ... A Macassan wooden sailing vessel or prau. ...

Some varieties of sea cucumber (known as gamat in Malaysia or trepang in Indonesia) are said to have excellent healing properties. There are pharmaceutical companies being built based on this gamat product. Extracts are prepared and made into oil, cream or cosmetics. Some products are intended to be taken internally. The effectiveness of sea cucumber extract in tissue repair has been the subject of serious study^[10]. It is believed that the sea cucumber contains all the fatty acids necessary to play an active role in tissue repair.^[11]. The Malay word gamat means sea cucumber and it refers to medicinal remedies made from any of several species of the animal. ...

Sea cucumbers are believed to be endowed with aphrodisiac powers in the Far East. The reason for this belief is the peculiar reaction of the creature on being kneaded or disturbed slightly with fingers. It swells and stiffens and a jet of water is released from one end. This behaviour is similar to the erection and subsequent ejaculation of the male human penis. After releasing the jet which is a defensive mechanism and contains irritants the creature loses its stiffness and reverts to its original state.^{[citation needed]} This article is about human physiological erection. ... Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the penis, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. ... The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external male sexual organ. ...

On December 21, 2007, a study published in PLoS Pathogens found that a lectin from Cucumaria echinata impaired the development of the malaria parasite when produced by transgenic mosquitoes.^[12]. is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... PLoS Pathogens is an open-access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science. ... Lectins are sugar-binding proteins which are highly specific for their sugar moieties. ... These have branched tentacles. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... Some Species Anopheles atroparvus Anopheles barberi Anopheles beklemishevi Anopheles coustani Anopheles crypticus Anopheles culicifacies Anopheles earlei Anopheles farauti Anopheles fluviatilis Anopheles forattinii Anopheles funestus Anopheles gambiae Anopheles grabhamii Anopheles hailarensis Anopheles halophylus Anopheles hyrcanus Anopheles introlatus Anopheles kosiensis Anopheles latens Anopheles maculipennis Anopheles minimus Anopheles moucheti Anopheles nili Anopheles ovengensis...

Sea cucumbers in art

Sea cucumber (a - Tentacles, b - Cloaca, c - Ambulacral feet on the ventral side, d - Papillae on the back)

Sea cucumbers have inspired musical composition: in the first of his Embryons desséchés for piano solo, Erik Satie presents the "(Desiccated embryo) of a Holothurian" and inserts a description of the animal in the score: Image File history File links Sjogurka_stor_ugglan. ... Image File history File links Sjogurka_stor_ugglan. ... Embryons desséchés (Dried up embryos) is a piano composition by Erik Satie, composed in the summer of 1913. ... A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... Selfportrait of Erik Satie. ...

The Holothurian crawls across boulders and rocky surfaces.

This sea-animal purrs like a cat; also, it produces disgusting silky threads.

Light appears to have an incommodating effect on it.

Nonetheless it is the sea cucumber's closest relative (the echinoidea or sea urchin) that gets the most attention from scientists, both as an embryo and as a fossil. H. edmondia, an ancient relative of the sea cucumber, is often seen throughout art history as a mythical asexual being, often portrayed as dancing. Subclasses Subclass Perischoechinoidea Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins) Subclass Euechinoidea Superorder Atelostomata Order Cassiduloida Order Spatangoida (heart urchins) Superorder Diadematacea Order Diadematoida Order Echinothurioida Order Pedinoida Superorder Echinacea Order Arbacioida Order Echinoida Order Phymosomatoida Order Salenioida Order Temnopleuroida Superorder Gnathostomata Order Clypeasteroida (sand dollars) Order Holectypoida Wikispecies has information related to... For other uses, see Embryo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fossil (disambiguation). ...

Sea cucumbers have also inspired thousands of haiku in Japan, where they are called namako (ナマコ), written with characters that can be translated "sea mice". In English translations of these haiku, they are usually called "sea slugs"; there is a book with almost 1,000 holothurian haiku translated from Japanese titled "Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!" by Robin D. Gill (ISBN 0-9742618-0-7). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the "sea slug" is a holothurian first, but biologists insist on using "sea slug" only for the nudibranch, a marine-dwelling relative of land slugs. For the operating system, see Haiku (operating system). ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... A nudibranch (pronounced ) common name sea slug, is any member of a suborder of soft-bodied, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. ...

See also

• Trepanging
• Gamat

Trepanging is the collection or harvesting of sea cucumbers, also called trepang. One who does this activity is called a trepanger. ... The Malay word gamat means sea cucumber and it refers to medicinal remedies made from any of several species of the animal. ...

Notes

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

Wikispecies has information related to:

Holothuroidea

• Healing properties of the gamat
• Chek Jawa Link for more photos of sea cucumber and more.
• Traditional Chinese dish of braised duck with sea cucumber
• Images of Sea cucumbers