SEA CUCUMBERS
SYNAPTIDAE
Euapta lappa
Size
To 1m.

Description
:
Long, worm-like with
encircling sections of knobs, which contain spiny ossicles which give it a "sticky" feel. Crown of featherlike tentacles around mouth at front.  Usually tan, brown or grey, with blotching or bands. Very soft and flaccid body.

Ecology
Sand, rubble and seagrass beds to 200ft (70m). Hides during the day, often in groups under rocks and even inside empty conch shells.

It uses its tentacles to sift through sediment on the seabed, pushing it into its mouth aperture. The organic material in the sediment is digested and the inorganic matter is expelled through the cloacal vent.

Moves by contraction of the body wall in peristaltic waves, aided by the ossicles in the surface knobs for purchace..this is undlike many other sea cucumbers which move slowly using podia on their undersides.

Life Cycle
Spawning and fertilization are both external. Embryos develop into planktotrophic larvae (auricularia) then into doliolaria (barrel-shaped stage) which later metamorphose into juvenile sea cucumbers
    Ecological Descriptors
Habitat Size (cm) Diet Behaviour Sex 
Be, S, R 100 Det, Noct I F
Beaded Sea Cucumber
Beaded Sea Cucumber
435
436
Beaded Sea Cucumber