Sea cucumber

Sea cucumber

A sea cucumber is a toothless creature that dwells on the surface of the sea at shallow depths. They are named so because their shape resembles to that of a cucumber. Though there are thousands of species alive on the earth, the reason for which I picked it as a topic to write is its strange feeding system, which fascinates me a lot. A typical sea cucumber is a living pipe which takes everything from its mouth, filters the eatable part and excretes the rest immediately. It appears more like an integrated pump and a filter rather than a living organism.

The strangest fact about this aquatic species is that it acts as a safe house for pearl fish which enters its anus to safeguard itself from predators. More than one pearl fish have been seen entering its anus one by one for the same purpose only, which is sometimes dangerous for the sea cucumber, but it is helpless in that case and can’t resist them from entering. When the danger is gone, pearl fish comes out from the mouth portion and escapes.

There are various species of sea cucumbers which different behaviors. The species which is being talked about in the article is mostly found in the Great Barrier Reef.

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