Rotring worm sea cucumber
| Rotring worm sea cucumber | ||||||||||||
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Red-ring worm cucumber ( Opheodesoma spectabilis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Opheodesoma spectabilis | ||||||||||||
| Fisher , 1907 |
The red-ring worm cucumber ( Opheodesoma spectabilis ) is only known from a few sites on the coast of East Africa, near Guam , New Caledonia and Hawaii . Since the sites are far apart, it is believed that it is native to the entire tropical Indo-Pacific . It lives on sandy soils at depths of 5 to 15 meters. During the day it hides under corals and becomes active at night.
features
The Rotring Worm Sea Cucumber becomes 80 centimeters long. It is yellowish, reddish or brownish in color. Its body is cylindrical and elongated, the skin is thin. There are numerous, rounded, bubble-like appendages in five longitudinal rows. It has 10 to 15 mouth tentacles, each of which branches into 25 to 35 lobes connected by a fine skin. At the base of the tentacles are primitive, light-receiving sensory organs.
The red-ring worm cucumber feeds itself by dabbing the ground with its 10 to 15 mouth tentacles and absorbing organic particles and microorganisms. Nothing is known about the reproduction of the Rotring Worm Sea Cucumber.
literature
- Erhardt / Moosleitner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 3 , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, ISBN 3-88244-103-8