Deepest sea cucumber

Deepest sea cucumber

Last updated: April 8, 2020 at 0:41 am

The abyssal sea cucumber, Prototrochus bruuni, is believed to be the deepest living echinoderm, having been recorded at depths up to 10,687 m (35,062 ft).

Thuy B, Gale AS, Kroh A, Kucera M, Numberger-Thuy LD, Reich M, et al. (2012) Ancient Origin of the Modern Deep-Sea Fauna. PLoS ONE 7(10): e46913. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046913

Bruun, Anton F. Animals of the Abyss. Scientific American, vol. 197, no. 5, 1957, pp. 50–57.

Benthopelagic sea cucumber swimming in the near freezing waters at 3205 m depth during the INDEX SATAL 2010 Expedition. Image by NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010 (Public Domain)

Spanish dancer (Benthodytes sp.), another swimming sea cucumber, hovering at 2789 meters by the Davidson Seamount. Photo by NOAA (Public Domain)

An unidentified sea cucumber observed in the abyss (5770 m deep) by NOAA mission Okeanos Explorer off Samoa in 2017. Photo by NOAA (Public Domain)

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