Cuvier tubes

Sea rollers with ejected Cuvier tubes

Cuviersche hoses (after Georges Cuvier ) are the enemy defense organs of some sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea). Cuvier's tubes probably evolved from modified gills . They protrude into the body cavity and are attached to the base of the water lungs. When threatened, they are thrown towards the attacker and when they come into contact with the sea water they form a tough network of sticky threads that is very elastic and in which fish, crustaceans or other predators can get caught. The Cuvier tubes are white or reddish in color. The adhesives in some species contain poisons called holothurins .

Individual evidence

↑ Pierre Tardent: Marine Biology: An Introduction . Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-13-570803-4 , p. 126.
↑ Adolf Remane, Volker Storch, Ulrich Welsch: Systematic Zoology: Stämme d. Animal kingdom . Fischer, Stuttgart 1976. ISBN 978-3-437-20150-9 , p. 401.

[1] Pierre Tardent: Marine Biology: An Introduction . Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-13-570803-4 , p. 126.

[2] Adolf Remane, Volker Storch, Ulrich Welsch: Systematic Zoology: Stämme d. Animal kingdom . Fischer, Stuttgart 1976. ISBN 978-3-437-20150-9 , p. 401.