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Echinoderms of Zihuatanejo

PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata)

-Sea Urchins and Sea Cucumbers (Subphylum Echinozoa)

-Sea Cucumbers (Class Holothuroidea)

-Subclass (Actinopoda)

-Order (Holothuriida)

-Family (Holothuriidae)

-Genus (Holothuria)

-Bottleneck Sea Cucumber (Holothuria impatiens)


Holothuria impatiens, commonly known as the Bottleneck Sea Cucumber, is a small tropical sea cucumber in the family Holothuriidae. It is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific and also occurs in the eastern Pacific, including shallow reef environments along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Holothuria impatiens is primarily a deposit feeder, moving slowly across sandy bottoms, rubble, and reef flats while ingesting sediment. It extracts organic matter, bacteria, and microscopic algae from the sand, then expels cleaner sediment behind it.

Diet

  • Holothuria impatiens is a deposit-feeding sea cucumber. It takes in sand and other seafloor sediment with its feeding tentacles and digests the organic material, including detritus and microorganisms, while passing the remaining mineral sediment through its digestive tract.

Range

  • The Impatient Sea Cucumber has a very broad tropical distribution, occurring in the Indo-West Pacific, western Atlantic, eastern Atlantic and tropical eastern Pacific. It is a native species along the Pacific coast of Mexico.

  • In Mexico it occurs along both the Gulf of California and mainland Pacific coasts. Its eastern Pacific range extends southward through Central America and into northern South America.

Habitat

  • Holothuria impatiens is associated with shallow coral and rocky reef environments, reef flats, reef slopes, sandy areas and seagrass beds. During the day it commonly shelters beneath coral rubble or in crevices, emerging to feed at night.

  • It is generally found in relatively shallow water, from the intertidal zone to about 27–30 m depth. It can occur beneath rocks and pieces of coral on sandy-rocky bottoms.

  • Around Zihuatanejo, suitable habitat would include shallow rocky reefs, reef flats, sandy patches among rocks, tide pools and areas of coral rubble.

Description

  • The Impatient Sea Cucumber has an elongated, cylindrical or somewhat bottle-shaped body that is narrower toward the anterior end. Adults commonly reach about 15–20 cm, with a maximum reported length of approximately 30 cm.

  • The body is generally greyish-brown, brown or purplish, with darker transverse bands across the upper surface that may become broken into spots toward the rear. The skin is rough, with prominent dorsal papillae, giving the animal a distinctly textured appearance.

  • The underside is generally lighter, with relatively sparse tube feet. The mouth is surrounded by 20 feeding tentacles. Microscopic calcareous ossicles in the body wall include characteristic tables and buttons and are important for confirming identification.

  • When disturbed, it can eject long, sticky white Cuvierian tubules from the posterior end as a defensive mechanism.

Bottleneck Sea Cucumber

Holothuria impatiens

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