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Holothuria Cinerascens

Introduction

Black tube appearance with grey or red specs

White string is a defense mechanism to capture enemies

Holothuria (Semperothuria) cinerascens is a species of sea cucumber in the family Holothuriidae. The sea cucumber is widely distributed in the Pacific and Indian oceans, being found from the Red Sea to Madagascar and from Japan to Australia. It was first described by Brandt in 1835. This article will generalize the idea of the Ashy Sea Cucumber's distribution in the Indo-Pacific Ocean or in the Pacific Island Hawaiian waters.

Description and Appearance

Ashy Sea Cucumberʻs are marine invertebrates and echinoderms. Coming from its name, this species appears as a black tube in the ocean with grey or red (differentiates) specs that can look like ashes. They all vary in sizes. They differ in sizes of ten to thirty centimeters. They are long and soft bodied organisms. Their diet contains planktons, algae, tiny aquatic animals/organisms and organic detritus. For feeding purposes, sea cucumbers contain oral tentacles of ten to thirty tentacles, depending on classification. Though, they are bottom feeders, they eat remains from the water surround them with their tentacles coated with its mucus. As of defense mechanisms, they avoid predators by discharging internal organs and release a string of mucus to capture their nemesis. The Holothuria Cinerascens species lifespan scales from five to fifteen years.

Habitat: Deep ocean floors, tide pools, around rocks, etc.

Habitat and Migration

This species can be found around reef and rocks, in tide pools, in deep waters, lagoons, bays, they can even be found hiding in very tight spaces. Their movement and migration patterns depend on their depth of sea level they are located at, influence of light intensity, the temperature conditions and the amount of predators surrounding the area.

Reproduction

The Holothuria Cinerascens are gonochoric, where the separation two sexes creates an individual organism of which it is either male or female. They broadcast spawn through sexual or asexual reproduction. During reproduction process, it is only successful when the species are in close proximity within each other due to the release of unfertilized eggs into the ocean. This is to prevent any asynchronous generation.

Biology and Scientific Use

These marine animals are very nutritional. They contain minerals, calcium, vitamins, irons, zinc and magnesium. They are very important human food sources which is why they have high economic food value. These sea cucumbers are also part of pharmaceutical uses. Their protein is rich in glycine (major component) and also contain amino acids and other components (glutamic acid, alanine, threonine acid, etc.). Its biological activities and medicinal health function includes therapeutic and beneficial effects of; wound healing, osteoarthritis, antiviral, antioxidants, Anti-inflammatory, anti fatigue and immune functions. Additionally, physiological benefits reducing risks of chronic diseases.

Hawaiian Waters

Ashy Sea Cucumbers are very common on Hawaiian shorelines. They are known as "Loli," sea cucumber in Hawaiian. As for cultural connections (Moʻolelo), these sea cucumbers were eaten and used as medicine during traditional Hawaiian life.