Wonder of nature - sea cucumbers

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

One of the rather strange invertebrates is sea cucumbers. Why are “marine”, it is clear, their habitat is the Pacific bottom, but why are “cucumbers”? These creatures are more like a brown, twenty to forty centimeters long sausage, covered with warts and outgrowths, which slowly crawls (by the way, for some reason on its side) along the sandy bottom or hides under stones in the low tide zone.

Who is the cucumber related to?

By the way, there is an opinion that the name Holothuridae is translated from Latin as “extremely disgusting”. This seems to be true: outwardly, the holothurian (the so-called class to which the sea cucumber belongs) is very similar to a slug or a leathery sac filled with internal organs.

And it belongs to the class of echinoderms, and its closest relatives are sea urchins and starfish. With the same manner of moving on the legs-tubes, which are set in motion by the water pumped through the body. Although sea cucumbers are extremely original in one thing: they breathethrough the ass, drawing water into the anus.

Cucumber parasites

Such an incredibly functional rear part of the holothurian is used by all sorts of marine trifles: crabs, tiny eel-like carapus fish, and worms. They, waiting for the moment of opening, dart in there, as if in an excellent refuge, and spend the whole day examining the cucumber intestines. And if you really need to go out, then they knock, and the owner lets them out.

True, some impudent people also start to eat the insides of our hero. Well, who can bear it? And sea cucumbers have invented a great way: they simply blow out their intestines through the anus and, thus freeing themselves from parasites, grow new ones for themselves.

How can you escape danger?

All types of holothurians that live on the ocean floor have an incredible supply of ways to protect themselves from danger. The sea cucumber, whose photo you can see in this article, has the ability to change the state of its body from solid to fluid. He, escaping from a predator, can simply “flow” into any gap and harden there again so that no one can pull him out.

And some sea cucumbers release thin sticky threads that quickly harden in water and turn into a real net that can glue an attacker for several hours.

By the way, devoid of viscera, genitals and parts of the body, the sea cucumber grows them in a couple of months. And each part of an invertebrate cut in halfwill turn into a new cucumber.

Edible sea cucumber – trepang

More than 30 types of holothurians are eaten. Since ancient times, these creatures have been considered a delicacy. Especially among the inhabitants of China, Japan, Malaysia and India. They are s alted, dried, boiled and even smoked.

In addition, sea cucumbers are an excellent aphrodisiac and analgesic, their meat helps to strengthen the immune system and lower blood pressure, normalizes the functioning of the heart muscle. And for the elderly, this is generally an elixir of longevity.

By the way, the body of the trepang consists of sterile cells that do not even have a hint of viruses and bacteria. And although this invertebrate does not look very attractive, it is worth including it in your diet.