Animal Species:Snot Sea Cucumber
The Snot Sea Cucumber is covered in a mucous slime and feels sticky to touch.
Snot Sea Cucumber
Dr Isobel Bennett
© Australian Museum
Identification
Like all echinoderms, the Snot Sea Cucumber has spiny skin. The microscopic spines, called anchors, are embedded into the thin, transparent body wall and help the sea cucumber burrow through the sand.
Size range
15 cm
Distribution
Snot Sea Cucumbers are found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia andTasmania.
Habitat
Snot Sea Cucumbers live on intertidal rocky shores and in coastal waters to a depth of 200 m.
Feeding and Diet
As the Snot Sea Cucumber burrows, contracting its body like a huge earthworm, tentacles surrounding its mouth sweep in sand and mud. The sea cucumber extracts nutrients from the sand and mud, and excretes the rest, leaving behind trails of sand like squeezed toothpaste.
Classification
- Species:
- dolabrifera
- Genus:
- Leptosynapta
- Family:
- Synaptidae
- Order:
- Apodida
- Class:
- Holothuroidea
- Phylum:
- Echinodermata
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
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Tags sea cucumbers, echinoderms, invertebrates, identification, wildlife of sydney, marine,