Echinodermata · echinoderms

Orange-footed sea cucumber

Cucumaria frondosa

Cucumariidae · cucumariid sea cucumbersIUCN: Least Concern
Orange-footed sea cucumber
Photo: Vsevolod · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

The most abundant sea cucumber in the North Atlantic, now fished in Maine.

Fun factIt catches plankton with branching tentacles and then licks them clean.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Northeast Atlantic, Arctic Ocean
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
Diet
Plankton (filter feeder)
Size
Up to 50 cm

Classification

Echinodermata › Holothuroidea › Cucumariidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Echinodermata echinoderms
    • Adults usually have five-part radial symmetry
    • Water-vascular system powers tiny tube feet
    • Skeleton of limestone plates (ossicles) in the skin
  5. Class Holothuroidea sea cucumbers
    • Sea cucumbers: soft, sausage-shaped bodies with skeleton reduced to tiny plates
    • Ring of feeding tentacles around the mouth
    • Many can throw out their guts to defend themselves
  6. Family Cucumariidae cucumariid sea cucumbers
    • Sea cucumbers with branched tentacles that catch plankton
  7. Genus Cucumaria
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  8. Species Cucumaria frondosa Orange-footed sea cucumber

Closest relatives in the guide