Giant sea cucumber
Thelenota anax
- Scientific name
- Thelenota anax
- Group
- Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
- Rarity
- Rare
- Where to see it
- Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Data deficient
Did you know?
The giant sea cucumber can grow over 1 meter long, making it one of the largest known echinoderms. By feeding on sediment that it filters and expels, it plays a quiet but essential role in recycling nutrients on the seafloor.
What defines this group — Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
Starfish, urchins and sea cucumbers: a five-fold symmetry found nowhere else in the animal kingdom.
- The body is arranged in fives around a centre: no head, no front, no back.
- They move on hundreds of tube feet driven by water under pressure.
- Many regrow a lost arm; some starfish can rebuild themselves from a single one.