Holothuria glaberrima
A sea cucumber used as a model for regeneration research.
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Holothuria (Selenkothuria) glaberrima, commonly known as the brown rock sea cucumber, is a species of sea cucumber found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is notable for its use as a model organism in regeneration research, owing to its ability to regenerate its complete digestive system and other body parts after injury, and its genome has been sequenced to facilitate such studies.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumEchinodermata
- ClassHolothuroidea
- OrderHolothuriida
- FamilyHolothuriidae
- GenusHolothuria
- SpeciesHolothuria glaberrima
Named by Selenka, 1867
Close relatives
Other species of Holothuria with a Codexery entry.
- Holothuria atra Holothuria atra
- Holothuria cinerascens Holothuria cinerascens
- Holothuria cubana Holothuria cubana
- Holothuria difficilis Holothuria difficilis
- Holothuria edulis Holothuria edulis
- Holothuria floridana Holothuria floridana
- Holothuria forskali Holothuria forskali
- Holothuria fuscogilva Holothuria fuscogilva
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Holothuria glaberrima (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 732235 (CC BY 4.0)
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC)
- LC▲ this species
- NT
- VU
- EN
- CR
- EW
- EX
Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category
How big is it?
Largest length in the source, 0.15 m, next to a 1.8 m person.
Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Holothuria glaberrima
Where the holothuria glaberrima has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (60 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 11 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 1 isolated far-off record not drawn.
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Background
Holothuria glaberrima has a cigar-shaped body with a leathery, tough cuticle. Its dorsal surface is smooth, while the ventral surface bears three longitudinal rows of dark brown tube feet. At the anterior end, a whorl of twenty bushy black feeding tentacles surrounds the mouth. The species grows to a length of 10 to 15 cm and is generally blackish, dark brown, or occasionally grey, without spots.
This sea cucumber is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, with a range including the West Indies, Florida, Mexico, and several Central and South American countries. It occurs at depths down to about 42 meters and lives under rocks in areas with considerable water movement.
Sea cucumbers can regenerate their complete digestive systems and grow back most body parts after injury. Because of this ability and the evolutionary closeness of echinoderms to vertebrates, Holothuria glaberrima has been widely used as a model organism in regeneration research, and its genome has been sequenced to support these studies.
More in Sea Cucumbers
Elsewhere in Sea Cucumbers and Brittle Stars
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Holothuria glaberrima (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List assessment.
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
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