[Coral-List] help identifiying an organism

Tyler Smith tsmith at rsmas.miami.edu
Wed Aug 3 17:59:49 EDT 2005


Hi Roi,

They were probably tubules of Cuvier:  sticky organs that can be  
released by certain holothurians (sea cucumbers) when distressed.   
They look exactly like this and are very, very sticky.

Cheers,
Tyler

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Tyler B. Smith
Department of Marine Biology and Fisheries
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida  33149
305-421-4863 (office)
305-421-4600 (fax)
tsmith at rsmas.miami.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Aug 3, 2005, at 5:01 AM, Roi Holzman wrote:

>
> During a recent night dive in the coral reef of Eilat, Israel, we  
> have seen a large "worm" that I have never seen before and have  
> failed, so far, to identify. it was quite long (I estimate ~1m),  
> with a diameter of ~ 5mm. as far as I could tell, the full length  
> of the organism was exposed, i.e. it was not a part of something  
> hiding under a rock. I would appreciate if you could take a moment  
> to look at the pictures at: http://community.webshots.com/album/ 
> 412234680XMFGpU
> the coral in the pictures is about 7cm across. the organism was  
> very sticky, and when we touched it with a piece of plastic, it was  
> hardly possible to separate it. It was observed in a degrading  
> state (probably dead) the next night at the same place (it was then  
> collected and preserved).
> thanks in advance
> Roi
>
> -- 
>
> Roi Holzman
> roi at pob.huji.ac.il
> InterUniversity institute for marine science of Eilat
> PO box 469, Eilat,88103, Israel
> Phone: 972-8-6360129
> fax: 972-8-6374329
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>




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