White spot cucumber

Holothuria polii

Occurring in

Mediterranean
North Atlantic

2-30m

DayAndNightActive

not endangered

When the white spot cucumber enjoys the underwater sun, its white dots shimmer almost as if they were small diamonds. This pretty little creature can be up to 25 cm long and moves on her belly with the help of its three rows of suction feet. The ends of its tentacles are star-shaped and their entire velvety-black body is decorated with white papillae.

Risk of confusion

Black sea cucumber Schwarze Seegurken, die sich im Mittelmeer zum Verwechseln ähnlich sehen.

Habitat

Sandy Seabed

Shady Rocky Seabed

Special features

When the white spot cucumber enjoys the underwater sun, its white dots shimmer almost as if they were small diamonds.

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Appearance

This pretty little creature can be up to 25 cm long and moves on her belly with the help of its three rows of suction feet.

The ends of its tentacles are star-shaped and their entire velvety-black body is decorated with white papillae.

Natural enemies

Crustaceans, sharks, coniferous fish (Carapus acus), copepods (Asterocheres boecki)

Dangerous/venomous

White spot cucumber is neither dangerous nor venomous.

Sketch

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1. Star-shaped mouth tentacles

2. White papillae

Pro tips

When it comes to foraging, white spot cucumbers show all-you-can-eat behavior. They shovel everything they can find into their mouths with their star-shaped tentacles. The nutrients are filtered out of the detritus in their stomachs, and the rest are simply excreted again.

whitetip_sea cucumber holothuria_polii_sea cucumber _mediterranean _mediterranean_divedict_diving_biolexicon

Text: Carolina Leiter

Pic: Dive Dict

Illustration: Dive Dict