New Sea cucumber

Description:

150mm long and about 60mm diameter, cylindrical but tapered both ends; very small 'mouth' opening at one end; pale cream coloured to pale orange at the 'head' end; felt very firm but dry to touch; some minor wrinkles covering most of the body (could be from beginning to dry out?) These might be the most non-descript creatures I can think of - ventral, dorsal, lateral views almost indistinguishable!

Habitat:

This creature had just been left among the detritus at high-tide mark as the water began to recede. It seemed that it was beginning to dry out in the sand.

Notes:

A recently described 'new' species (2011) these were all thought to be one - Paracaudina australis but it was discovered that the ones in the cold southern waters of Australia are different. The last picture shows the ventral view and as you can see there is not much difference from the dorsal one. These creatures live in sandy areas at about 2 metres depth and are often found on shorelines after rough weather. Many peoples around the world regard these as a delicacy (unfortunately for them). As this one was apparently going to dry out at the high-tide mark I released it into the local rock pools.