Sea Cuke ID

[lashilia]

Hello!

I recently received a sea cucumber from a friend who was using it for a carbon dioxide emmission study at school. It is not a hitchhiker, but this is an identification question, so I am posting it here. The little guy appears to have been exposed to high ammonia/nitrate levels. I took it home and attepted to revive it. It is looking much better, crawling a bit and showing its crown-thing. Before I am comfortable with it in a reef tank, I would like to know the species.

If anyone can identify it from description, great! If not, I will follow up with a picture later. It is green and pink, about four or five inches long, with short spikes about a quarter or half an inch long. The crown it brighter reddish-pink on green. Does anyone know of a cuke this color? It was probably ordered from a scientific or education supply catalouge.

Plus, since I did not intend/prepare anything special for a cuke, can someone give me basic tips for keeping these echinoderms? I have lots of sea stars and brittle stars, but I have never owned a cucumber. If I cannot keep it myself, I will have to find it a more suitable home.

Thank you very much!

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Pentacta anceps, a filter feeding cuke.

A little more info on feeding and husbandry can be found here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... invert.htm

Good luck with it, and welcome to reefs.org!

 

[Anonymous]

Really need a picture as there are over 1250 species of Holothuroidea, some being detritus consumers and the others being suspension feeders. Best bet at the moment would be to keep it with peaceful fish species and/or dose your tank with a phytoplankton supplement.

btw Welcome to Reefs.org.

mario

 

[lashilia]

That is him. Thank you very much! Now I can find more info about him.

He ate last night, but he hasn't moved a lot since then. He has adhered himself to a bit of live rock. I hope he makes it. He is obviously very happy to be out of the school's tank.