Sea cucumber

A marine echinoderm with an elongated, soft body and a mouth surrounded by feeding tentacles. Sea cucumbers move along the seafloor and feed mainly on organic matter.

Deposit feeding: A feeding strategy in which animals consume organic particles settled on or within sediments. Many sea cucumbers collect sediment with their tentacles and digest its organic material.
Echinoderm: A marine invertebrate in a phylum characterized in adults by a water vascular system and typically five-part symmetry. Sea cucumbers are one of the major living echinoderm groups.
Bioturbation: The disturbance and mixing of sediment by animals and other organisms. As they feed and move, sea cucumbers rework seafloor sediment and its nutrients.
Sea star: A star-shaped echinoderm with arms radiating from a central body. Sea stars share echinoderm ancestry but have a rigid, radially obvious form.
Respiratory tree: A branched internal organ that exchanges gases with water in some sea cucumbers. Water pumped through this organ supplies oxygen while sea cucumbers remain on the seafloor.
Water vascular system: A fluid-filled canal system in echinoderms that operates tube feet and related structures. This system underlies the tube feet used by many sea cucumbers.
Sea cucumber fishery: The commercial harvest of sea cucumbers, especially for dried products known as bêche-de-mer or trepang. Many species are harvested for food, placing pressure on wild populations.
Sea urchin: A usually spherical echinoderm protected by movable spines. Its hard test contrasts with the flexible, elongated sea cucumber body.
Cuvierian tubules: Adhesive, often toxic tubules that some sea cucumbers eject from the cloaca when threatened. This specialized defense can entangle or deter predators.
Holothuroidea: The echinoderm class comprising sea cucumbers, with elongated bodies and reduced external skeletons. This is the taxonomic class that contains all sea cucumbers.

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