WHATSTHATFISH
Sea stars & urchins

Elephant Trunkfish

Holothuria fuscopunctata

Also known as: Black-banded Sea Cucumber, Brown-spotted Sea Cucumber, Creased Cucumber, Curry Fish, Elephant Fish, Elephant Sea Cucumber, Elephant Trunkfish Sea Cucumber, Elephant's Trunkfish, Sand Fish, Tripang

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2013
Adult
@fishx6 · Flair Point - Coral Sea, Australia · July 20091 / 6
01

Overview

Found on coarse rubble, sand, and in seagrass beds, over lagoons and reef slopes.

Some sea cucumbers crawl around on the bottom slowly filtering sand through their tentacles to gather food, while others spread their tentacles above them to capture plankton. A number of sea cucumbers feed nocturnally while others feed by day.
There are sea cucumbers that hardly move while others are more active often perching on tall sponges to feed.
Sea cucumbers often attract hitch-hikers like shrimps and crabs that crawl over their skin, also pearlfish that enter via their anus.
As a means of defence sea cucumbers can expel their intestines or respiratory organs in the form of sticky threads, but these can quickly regenerate.
Juveniles often mimic sea slugs.
Some types of sea cucumbers are edible and considered a delicacy in the Far East countries.

02

How to identify

Body shape
warts

Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.

03

Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Indo-Pacific
  • Country only · 6
LIVES IN

Found on coarse rubble, sand, and in seagrass beds, over lagoons and reef slopes.

04

Adult photos 6

05

Discussion 1

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1 comment

  • Rucy· 16 Jul 2015

    Where's the fish? Where's a photo of the "Elephant Fish?" - The WHOLE fish!

ALL STAGES
FOR THE MARINE-BIOLOGY CURIOUS

Deep dive

Taxonomy

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumEchinodermata
  3. classHolothuroidea
  4. orderHolothuriida
  5. familyHolothuriidae
  6. genusHolothuria
  7. speciesHolothuria fuscopunctata

SourcesWikipedia

06

More in the family

Sea Cucumbers (Holothuriidae)