Holothuria tubulosa is a sea cucumber between 20 and 45 cm in length. Its cylindrical
body has a diameter of about 6 cm. Its surface is covered by numerous dark long conical papillae. Along
the ventral face, three lines of tube-feet are used for locomotion. The terminal tentacles are short and
flattened. They bring into the mouth sediments from which the sea cucumber extracts the organic particles
it feeds on. Non-assimilable elements such as sand, are rejected through the anus under the guise of
strings of small muddy tubes. The colour varies from pale brown with sometimes purplish mottlings to
reddish brown. Tubular sea cucumbers live on sandy bottoms among posidonia or on muddy rocks.
It is found from surface to 100 m deep in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlanic Ocean up to the
Bay of Biscay.
Phylum Echinodermata, class Holothuroidea, order Aspidochirotida, family Holothuriidae, Holothuria tubulosa Gmelin, 1790.
Tube foot: Tube-shaped element ending by a sucker-disc used to attach to subtratum or to bring food particles into the mouth.
Photograph: © Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with author's kind permission.
Holothuria tubulosa, Illes Medes, Costa Brava, East of Spain. Depth 14 meters.
Text: Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2006-2008.
Translation: Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2007-2008.
