Synaptidae

Wurmseegurken ( Synaptidae )

Wurmseegurken ( Synaptidae ) are wurmformig elongated representative of sea cucumbers ( Holothuroidea ). As a member of the order of Apodida ( Footless sea cucumbers ) they have no suckers. They move through contraction of her soft body. Your skin sticks to the ground, because tiny, mostly anchor-shaped spicules protrude from the body. The different types can be distinguished only by specialists.

Wurmseegurken feed on organic detritus, the dab, the very active for echinoderms animals with her crown of tentacles around the mouth opening from the floor.

The small genus Synaptula is only a few centimeters long. The animals live as commensals on sponges, gorgonians, algae and seaweed. They eat organic particles on the surface of the host and precipitates.

With a maximum length of 2.50 meters the spotted Wurmseegurke ( Synapta maculata ) is the largest Art She only has a diameter of two inches. Your body is so unstable that they can tear when it is lifted out of the water.