Variable sea cucumber
| Variable sea cucumber | ||||||||||||
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Variable sea cucumber ( Isostichopus badionotus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Isostichopus badionotus | ||||||||||||
| ( Selenka , 1867) |
The variable sea cucumber ( Isostichopus badionotus ), also called three-row sea cucumber , is a sea cucumber from the Caribbean and the tropical, western Atlantic from Bermuda , and South Carolina to the coast of Brazil . It lives solitary in shallow water on sandy or rubble floors near coral reefs and in seagrass beds , from the low water line to depths of 20 meters. Young animals live hidden between stones and coral debris.
features
The variable sea cucumber becomes 45 to 50 centimeters long. Their color is very variable, the basic color is usually brown or yellowish. This contrasts with the mostly different colored, black or light yellow, warts on the back. There are specimens with a light basic color and dark warts and vice versa. Monochrome animals are rare. At the bottom it has three rows of dark tubular feet. The middle row is wider and divided into two by a hem. Variable sea cucumbers feed on organic particles that they ingest from the bottom.
It has no Cuvier tubes . Visceral fish sometimes live in the intestines of the sea cucumber .
literature
- Harry Erhardt / Horst Moosleitner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 3 , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, ISBN 3-88244-103-8
- Maren Baumeister / Werner Baumeister: Marine fauna, Caribbean and Florida . Ulmer Verlag, ISBN 3-8001-4164-7
- Svein A. Fossa / Alf Jacob Nilsen: Coral reef aquarium Volume 6 , Schmettkamp Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-928819-18-6
Web links
- Isostichopus badionotus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Toral-Granda, T.-G., Alvarado, JJ, Hamel, J.-F., Mercier, A., Benavides, M. & Paola Ortiz, E., 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2014.