Sea Cucumber

Appearance

This Sea Cucumber has a tubular body that is almost round in cross section. Both front and rear ends are spherically rounded. Its colouring is light brown to orange and spines spread over the entire body.
Holothuria arguinensis can grow up to 30cm long and reach a diameter of 6cm.

Naming

Holothuria (Roweothuria) arguinensis Koehler & Vaney 1906
Species recognized by EOL Dynamic Hierarchy 1.1
\N and EOL Dynamic Hierarchy 1.1
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Holothuria arguinensis
Species recognized by Barcode of Life Data Systems, NCBI, wikipedia NL, South Atlantic Species List, North Atlantic Species List, and Global Biotic Interactions
Holothuria arguinensis Koehler & Vaney 1906
Species recognized by Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Hierarchy and GBIF classification
Holothuria arguinensis Koehler & Vaney 1906
Recognized by IUCN and Environments EOL
Holothuria (Roweothuria) arguinensis Koehler & Vaney 1906
Species recognized by EOL Dynamic Hierarchy 0.9 and World Register of Marine Species
Holothuria (Roweothuria) arguinensis Koehler & Vaney 1906
Recognized by OBIS environmental data records

Distribution

Holothuria arguinensis is restricted in distribution to the northeastern Atlantic, from Peniche, Portugal, to Mauritania, and the Canary Islands. It has recently been found colonizing the waters of the Alborán Sea in the western portion of the Mediterranean Sea.

Behavior

This sea cucumber is a nocturnal species.

Habitat

This sea cucumber lives on sandy and muddy ground, in flat areas protected from the surf, in depths down to 52m.

Reproduction

Members of the class Holothuroidea are gonochoric and have only one gonad. Spawning and fertilization are both external and some exhibit brooding. Life cycle: Embryos develop into planktotrophic larvae (auricularia) then into doliolaria (barrel-shaped stage) which later metamorphose into juvenile sea cucumbers.

Food

Its diet consists of detritus, debris, invertebrates and sediment. It forages on Cymodosa nodosa and Zostera noltii.

Uses

Holothuria arguinensis has a nutritional value similar to that of other commercial sea cucumber species and
is suitable for human consumption. It is a commercial sea cucumber species from the northeast Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea that has largely been studied for aquaculture.