. . . And we’re back. Apologies for the long delay, but after I returned from my vacation, I almost immediately plunged into the logistics of painting my entire home, and I’ve been otherwise engaged each night. But I wanted to be (among the) first to wish you a Happy International Year of Biodiversity!
And to celebrate this milestone, I now present you the fabulous solution to a mystery we all pondered last year. Remember the Unidentified Feathery Object (aka the Ninja Seaweed)? Well, I just saw a video post on the Echinoblog today (which also includes video of the infamous sea pig!) that explains everything. Though it be still ninja, that’s no seaweed. It’s a space station! Wait. . . let me check my notes . . .
Ahem. For your viewing pleasure, I present . . . the hairy sea cucumber!
Hmmm. . . hairy sea cucumbers. I see nothing suggestive in that name at all. Nope.
It’s also quite apparent no one taught these sea cucumbers table manners. I mean, come on: shoving your whole tentacle into your mouth at once and slowly licking it clean? Sakes alive!
Sea cucumbers (even hairy ones) are echinoderms, which means they’re most closely related to sea stars, brittle stars, basket stars, and sea urchins. This sea cucumber is clearly a filter feeder, catching tiny animals and plants on its tentacles, though I can’t seem to find out if it uses glue, or stinging cells, or poison, or dumb luck. For the sea cucumber (aka holothurian) family . . . er, . . tree, see here. Follow “Holothuroidea” down to see the different sorts. And just for the record, I’d never heard of hairy sea cucumbers either.
