Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Pineapple Cucumber

[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Pineapple or Prickly Cucumber
(Thelenota ananas)

Pineapple or Prickly Cucumber - Thelenota ananas
Photo by Gerick Bergsma

Cucumbers feed using specially modified tube feet to bring food to their mouths.

Distribution
Throughout the Indian and West Pacific, including eastern Africa, India, Japan, Australia and French Polynesia

Habitat
Reef flats and sand patches

Diet
Algae (esp. Halimeda sp.) and detritus

Quick Fact
Pineapple Cucumbers are known to host pearlfish, symbiotic fish that live in the cucumber's gut.  Pearlfish have long, slender bodies and are able to enter and exit their cucumber home through the cucumber's anus.  It is thought that they may feed on parts of the cucumber's digestive tract, as well as hunt for small crustaceans and fish outside the cucumber.

Learn More
- Echinoderms

- Moorea Biocode Database

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