Pepino de mar (Thelenota ananas), mar Rojo, Egipto, 2023-04-17, DD 61

About this work

Pineapple sea cucumber (Thelenota ananas), Red Sea, Egypt. They are able to reach up to 70 centimetres (28 in) in length, with a weight of between 3 to 6 kilograms (6.6 to 13.2 lb). While generally considered sedentary, they have large tube feet hidden underneath their body which allow them to be highly mobile creatures and widely distributed. The environment of T. ananas is found in clean, sandy bottoms of lagoons with a depth of up to 30 metres (98 ft), or in slabs near large coral heads and coral rubble. They are typically found in tropical Indo-Pacific waters from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia. The average water temperatures they thrive in are between 26–27 °C (79–81 °F). The individuals are large and found dispersed in low densities. They are slow growing, but also longer lived and have lower mortality rates. T. ananas plays an important role in coral reef ecosystems by recycling nutrients, bioturbating sediments, buffering sea water from ocean acidification to local scales, prey to a range of predators, and acting as a host for symbiotic biota. It feeds exclusively on calcareous alga Halimeda sp.