This page links to photos of holothurians (sea cucumbers) we have seen in the Marshall Islands. There are many species in the Marshalls, some exposed on the reefs but many more hidden away under rocks or buried in sand. They mostly feed by either picking up food particles with their anterior tentacles or engulf sand, digest out the organics, and drop the processed sand out the anal opening. Many species have highly adhesive strands called Cuvierian tubules that can be expelled from the body to confuse and entangle potential predators. The strands seem not to be toxic, but if you get some on your skin, they can be quite difficult to remove. Holothurians are also often hosts to various commensal organisms and parasites. Some of the commensal crabs, shrimp and worms are shown with the various holothurian species. Snails in the family Eulimidae are often parasitic on sea cucumbers. Some of the eulimids from the Marshalls are shown elsewhere on this site.
Measurements were not taken in the field and animals were not collected, so any sizes given are very rough eyeball estimates often based on distant memories, and are provided only as a general guideline of what to look for.
We welcome corrections or comments at uwkwaj@yahoo.com. Click on a thumbnail below to bring up a page with larger photos and information about that species; for variable species, several different thumbnails may load the same page.
Many thanks to Gustav Paulay and Frédéric Ducarme, who helped me identify a number of my unknowns and correct a few mistakes. However, I've made changes and added species, so any errors are bound to be mine.
All photos are protected by copyright. Please contact uwkwaj@yahoo.com for more information on purchase, use, or redistribution of any photos.
