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July 20, 2021: Sea Cucumber

While exploring Perdido Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico in 2018, we imaged this sea cucumber on the seafloor.

Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Gulf of Mexico 2018. Download larger version (jpg, 1.1 MB).

While exploring Perdido Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico in 2018, we imaged this sea cucumber on the seafloor. Its nearly transparent body provided a good view of the animal’s internal organs, mainly the gut which was full of consumed sediment. The sea cucumber will extract nutrients from the sediment before eliminating the excess as a fecal trace.