Tag: Echinoderms
Materials found: 5
Blue Sea Star
A bright blue sea star, usually with five rays, up to 30 cm. Inhabits reefs, among coral debris, and on sandy bottoms of the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Linckia laevigata
Crown-of-thorns Starfish
A large coral-eating sea star with numerous poisonous spines and 12–19 rays. Feeds on living corals and during population outbreaks can cause serious damage to reefs.
Acanthaster planci
Lambert's Worm Sea Cucumber
A thin worm-like sea cucumber of whitish color, often forming dense aggregations on sponges and corals. Feeds on organic particles and detritus, collecting them from the substrate surface using tentacles.
Synaptula lamperti
Marbled sea cucumber
The marbled sea cucumber (Pearsonothuria graeffei) is a bottom-dwelling holothurian of the tropical Indo-Pacific. The body is elongated and cylindrical, with light (creamy or greyish-brown) colour and many dark dots and patches forming a "marbled" pattern; low papillae are visible on the skin. It feeds by sifting the surface layer of sediment and extracting organic matter (detritus). Under strong stress it may release sticky threads (Cuvierian tubules) that contain toxic substances.
Pearsonothuria graeffei
Pineapple sea cucumber
The pineapple sea cucumber is a very large holothurian of the family Stichopodidae, living on sandy areas and among coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific. It is notable for its size and firm, "armoured" body with many pointed star-shaped papillae in rows of 2–3. Coloration is usually warm grey-brown to reddish-orange with darker patches. It feeds on organic matter from the sediment by passing the surface layer of the bottom through its mouth.
Thelenota ananas