Cucumariidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

sea cucumbers Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothurian ...

, marine animals with elongated bodies, leathery skins and tentacles that are found on the sea bed.

Description

Members of the family Cucumariidae are small to medium-sized sea cucumbers, characterised by ten branching

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work ma ...

s of which the lowest two are often smaller than the others. They are

filter feeders Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

, using their tentacles to catch micro-organisms and pass them to their mouth. They are seldom found on

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s but mostly live in deep water on sand and gravel substrates. Certain genera including the sea apples in the genera '' Paracucumaria'' and ''

Pseudocolochirus Sea apple is the common name for the colorful and somewhat round sea cucumbers of the genus ''Pseudocolochirus'', found in Indo-Pacific waters. Sea apples are filter feeders with tentacles, ovate bodies, and tube-like feet. As with many othe ...

'', contain toxic holothurin and holotoxin and release it into the water when damaged or killed. Spawning may also be accompanied by release of these toxins. For this reason, although they are interesting and attractive to keep in aquaria, it is inadvisable to keep them in a tank with other reef species.

Taxonomy

A number of

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

that were placed in the family Phyllophoridae by Thander in 1989 and 1990 are now included in Cucumariidae. The following genera are accepted in the family Cucumariidae: *'' Abyssocucumis'' Heding, 1942 *'' Actinocucumis'' Ludwig, 1875 *'' Amphicyclus'' Bell, 1884 *'' Anaperus'' Troschel, 1846 *'' Apseudocnus'' Levin, 2006 *'' Apsolidium'' O'Loughlin & O' Hara, 1992 *'' Aslia'' Rowe, 1970 *'' Athyonidium'' Deichmann, 1941 *'' Australocnus'' O'Loughlin & Alcock, 2000 *'' Benthophyllophorus'' Deichmann, 1954 *'' Calcamariina'' O'Loughlin in O'Loughlin et al., 2015 *'' Cercodemas'' Selenka, 1867 *'' Cherbocnus'' Thandar in Thandar & Mjobo, 2014 *'' Cladodactyla'' Brandt, 1835 *'' Colochirus'' Troschel, 1846 *'' Cucamba'' O'Loughlin, 2009 *'' Cucumaria'' Blainville, 1830 *'' Cucusquama'' O'Loughlin in O'Loughlin, Tavancheh & Harding, 2016 *'' Cucuvitrum'' O'Loughlin & O' Hara, 1992 *'' Echinopsolus'' Gutt, 1990 *''

Ekmania ''Ekmania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family. It contains only one known species, ''Ekmania lepidota'', endemic to Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island coun ...

'' Hansen & McKenzie, 1991 *'' Euthyonacta'' Deichmann, 1954 *'' Hemiocnus'' Mjobo & Thandar, 2016 *'' Hemioedema'' Hérouard, 1929 *'' Heterocucumis'' Panning, 1949 *'' Incubocnus'' Thandar & Vinola, 2017 *'' Lanceophora'' Thandar, Zettler & Arumugam, 2010 *'' Leptopentacta'' H.L. Clark, 1938 *'' Loisettea'' Rowe & Pawson, 1985 *'' Mensamaria'' H.L. Clark, 1946 *'' Neoamphicyclus'' Hickman, 1962 *'' Neocucumella'' Pawson, 1962 *'' Neocucumis'' Deichmann, 1944 *''

Ocnus In Greek and Roman mythology, Ocnus ( grc, Ὄκνος) or Bianor ( grc, Βιάνωρ) was a son of Manto and Tiberinus Silvius, king of Alba Longa. He founded modern Mantua in honor of his mother. Alternatively, he was the son or brother of ...

'' Forbes & Goodsir, in Forbes, 1841 *'' Orbithyone'' Clark, 1938 *'' Panningia'' Cherbonnier, 1958 *'' Paracolochirus'' Pawson, Pawson & King, 2010 *'' Paracucumaria'' Panning, 1949 *'' Paraleptopentacta'' Mezali, Thandar & Khodja, 2020 *'' Parathyonacta'' Caso, 1984 *'' Parathyone'' Deichmann, 1957 *'' Parathyonidium'' Heding in Heding & Panning, 1954 *'' Patallus'' Selenka, 1868 *'' Pawsonellus'' Thandar, 1986 *'' Pawsonia'' Rowe, 1970 *'' Pentacta'' Goldfuss, 1820 *'' Pentactella'' Verrill, 1876 *'' Pentocnus'' O'Loughlin & O'Hara, 1992 *'' Plesiocolochirus'' Cherbonnier, 1946 *'' Pseudoaslia'' Thandar, 1991 *'' Pseudocnella'' Thandar, 1987 *'' Pseudocnus'' Panning, 1949 *''

'' Pearson, 1910 *'' Pseudopsolus'' Ludwig, 1898 *'' Pseudrotasfer'' Bohn, 2007 *'' Psolicrux'' O'Loughlin, 2002 *'' Psolicucumis'' Heding, 1934 *'' Psolidiella'' Mortensen, 1926 *'' Psolidocnus'' O'Loughlin & Alcock, 2000 *'' Roweia'' Thandar, 1985 *'' Squamocnus'' O'Loughlin & O'Hara, 1992 *'' Staurocucumis'' Ekman, 1927 *'' Staurothyone'' H.L. Clark, 1938 *'' Stereoderma'' Ayres, 1851 *'' Thyonella'' Verrill, 1872 *'' Thyonidium'' Düben & Koren, 1846 *'' Trachasina'' Thandar *'' Trachycucumis'' Thandar & Moodley, 2003 *'' Trachythyone'' Studer, 1876 File:Aslia lefevrii - Carantec.jpg, '' Aslia lefevrii'' File:Colochirus robustus1.jpg, '' Colochirus robustus'' File:Cucumaria big.jpg, '' Cucumaria miniata'' File:Ocnus planci (Brandt, 1835) .jpg, '' Ocnus planci'' File:Calliostoma zizyphinum, Pawsonia saxicola - Carantec.jpg, '' Pawsonia saxicola''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2492981 Echinoderm families