Sea cucumbers · Holothuriida · Holothuriidae

Cotton-Spinner

Holothuria tubulosa

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

Like all sea cucumbers it can violently expel its own internal organs in defence, regrowing them completely afterwards. It plays a crucial ecological role recycling nutrients on the sea floor.

Weight

50 g – 340 g

Size

18 cm – 30 cm

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanOmnivore Nocturnal Solitary Ocean Echinoderm

22countries 6parks2same family

Fun facts

It can violently expel its own internal organs in defence and regrow them afterwards.
It recycles nutrients on the sea floor by processing great quantities of sediment.
It lives in seagrass meadows and soft bottoms of the Mediterranean down to 123 m.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Invertebrate - reduced calcareous endoskeleton embedded in the skin (echinoderm)
Habitat & environment: Shallow sea beds, seagrass meadows and soft substrates of the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, down to 123 m
Birth weight: Eggs released into the water by external fertilisation
Size at birth: A planktonic larva after hatching (no precise figures found for its development)
Sexual maturity: Not precisely known in years, though the size at maturity is well documented (18-18.6 cm in total length)
Gestation / incubation: The egg develops in open water over a period the sources do not put a figure on
Litter / clutch size: No precise figure for fecundity in this particular species

Sources consulted: Oxford Academic (Marine and Coastal Fisheries reproductive cycle study); SeaLifeBase; ScienceDirect (Aegean Sea reproductive biology comparativo); ResearchGate (sea cucumber sanctori comparativo)