ID Help wanted

[Grajan]

We saw a very wierd creature on a night dive in the British Virgin Islands a couple of weeks ago. Pity I did not have my camera on that dive....

Description as follows:

A free moving worm like body at least 2' long and about 1 1/2" in diameter. Did not taper.

Very pale to colorless and lumpy.

'Head' consisted of a ring of short tentacles, about 2 1/2" long - very mobile and reacted to light. Head was somewhere between a stumpy baby octopus and an anemone.

We did not keep looking at it for long as it appeared 'distressed' by light. It was VERY ugly.

Any ideas? If so a link to a picture would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Walter]

Was the entire body visible? Or was the other end back under the reef? Was the head "face" down in the sand? Did you touch it, if so what was the reaction?

 

[Grajan]

I think the entire body was visible but i'm not at all sure - it might have been under a rock.

The head was on it's side and lifted up occasionally, with the short tentacles moving quite actively.

we did not touch it (never do) but it seemed to retract the tentacles when light was shone on it from close up.

If we cannot ID it I will ask my (artist) dive buddy to do a sketch.

 

[Bomber]

Graham,

Sounds like Euapta lappa or Synaptula
hydriformis. Medusa worm, which is really a cucumber.
sorry no picture.

 

[Grajan]

It looked a bit like this but with fatter tentacles and over two feet long.

Barring convergent evolution it was definitely in this family.

 

[scubajoe]

It could very well be a beaded sea cucumber. Check the Paul Humann Creatures book. It is the last sea cucumber. I saw one in Cayman a few years ago. No one on the boat had a clue what it was. The one I saw was much smaller then the one you saw.

Joe

 

[Rick Murchison]

a tiger tail sea cucumber. I think there's a good shot of one in Humann's Reef Creatures.
Rick