Phalguni Ranjan
( Stichopus chloronotus )
You can find them in and around coral reefs.
The greenfish sea cucumber can grow up to about 25 cm, they are greenish blue in colour with a smooth skin embedded with spins or thorns poking out. These thorns or spines referred to as 'papillae' and have a yellowish red colour on their tips, if you see something resembling this description near a coral reef you now know what it is!
You will catch them moving across the sediment to filter out particle matter that it feeds on which includes a wide array of matter such as bacteria, feces, diatoms and plant remains.
Phalguni Ranjan
Phalguni Ranjan
( Holothuria leucospilota )
They are considered a fairly common species that can be found anywhere from reefs, to seagrass meadows and sandy areas at depths of about 10 m.
This species of sea cucumber can grow up to 40 cm in length and can be found in shallow coastal waters. Resembeling the shape of a cylinder, it has about 20 tentacles around its mouth and can be easily bent or stretched. In terms of their colour, as their name suggests range from a charcoal grey to black in colour. The black sea cucumber has been recorded to hide most of its body under rocks, leaving only the front feeding end sitcking out.
This sea cucumber moves through the sediment and feeds on detritus and other small matter.
Phalguni Ranjan
Phalguni Ranjan
Vardhan Patankar
( Pearsonothuria graeffei )
Found on and along coral reefs.
These sea cucumbers can grow upto 30 cm with their cylindrical body. A distinctive feature of this species is that when they are a juvenile, you might mistake them for Phyllidia varicosa which is a species of sea slug due their resemblence to this species when they are small.
Their mouth is covered by a ring of about 24 black tentacles on one side, which they use to sieve through sediment for feeding on particulate matter just like the other sea cucumbers.
Phalguni Ranjan
Phalguni Ranjan
( Holothuria atra )
You can find these species on the seabed, in shallow water reefs and sometimes also in seagrass meadows.
Found to be an average length of 20 cm, the lollyfish sea cucumber is completely black in colour but appears to have a slight grey or white colour due to the sea sand that sticks to its skin from moving on the ocean floor. The sticking of sand on the skin also serves as a cooling agent for the species as it protects it from the sun's rays. , it also emits a red toxic fluid when it's skin is damaged so it's safe to say to keep your distance when you see the fluid oozing out!
This sea cucumber moves through the sediment and feeds on detritus and other small matter.
Phalguni Ranjan
( Thelenota ananas )
The pineapple sea cucumber can be found in and around coral reefs, lodged into the sandy sediment or moving along the coral itself.
This species of sea cucumber are known for their large size extending to about 70 cm in length, reddish-orange colour and their individualistic star shaped extensions called 'teats' that poke out of their whole body. Their 'teats' resemble the spikes of a pineapple and hence orignating their name! The pinapple sea cucumber can be found in and around coral reefs, lodged into the sandy sediment or moving along the coral itself.
They feed only on calcareous algae belonging to the genus Halimeda.
Joydeep Sarkar
( Euapta godeffroyi )
Found as deep as 80 m resting on rubble and rock on coral reefs.
The sticky snakes are a species of sea cucumber that can grow to about 40 cm in length and due to their texture similarity to a snake is why they are called so. The body has a background colour that is white with blotches of grey or brown. There are also two long brownish lines that go across whole body. At the mouth end, there are about fifteen tentacles that protrude out. Hiding during the day amongst rubble and corals, they are mostly spotted in the night.
They feed by using their tentacles around the mouth to filter out small organisms and organic matter.