Royal sea cucumber
| Royal sea cucumber | ||||||||||||
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Royal Sea Cucumber ( Stichopus regalis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Stichopus regalis | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1817) |
The royal sea cucumber ( Stichopus regalis ) is a sea cucumber that is widespread in the Caribbean , the Gulf of Mexico , the eastern Atlantic , from the west coast of Ireland to the Canary Islands , as well as in the western Mediterranean . It is rare in the southern Mediterranean and probably absent in the eastern. It lives at depths of 5 to 800 meters on soft soils and on calcareous algae soils and feeds on detritus .
features
The royal sea cucumber is up to 35 centimeters long with a maximum diameter of 7 centimeters, its body is flattened. On the underside it has three rows of suction feet, the top is covered with warts and bumps. The top is reddish-brown or yellowish with small white spots on the sides, the underside is red in the center, brown on the edges. The Royal Sea cucumber has no Cuvier tubes . In case of danger, it can expel its intestines, which are regenerated within two to three weeks.
ecology
The intestinal fish Carapus acus often settles in the water lungs of the animals . How this relationship is to be classified, whether as commensalism or parasitism , is unclear. Small planktonic crustaceans were found in the stomach of intestinal fish , but it cannot be ruled out that the water lungs of the royal sea cucumber are also eaten by the fish.
use
The five longitudinal muscles of the royal sea cucumber are eaten as an expensive delicacy in Catalonia (in 2003 a portion cost € 18 to € 40). As a result of the intensified economic use, the number of royal sea cucumbers is said to have dropped noticeably from well over 40 specimens per catch to well below 20.
literature
- Matthias Bergbauer, Bernd Humberg: What lives in the Mediterranean? 1999, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, ISBN 3-440-07733-0
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kloss, K. & Pfeiffer, W. 2000. On the biology of the " gut fish" C. acus (Brunnich, 1768) (Carapidae, Teleostei), with references to a non-parasitic diet. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 107 (2): 335-349.
- ↑ Hofrichter (ed.), The Mediterranean II / 1, 2003, ISBN 3827410908
Web link
- Parastichopus regalis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Mercier, A. & Hamel, J.-F., 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2014.