page_title: Holothuria tubulosa
section_title: Biology
hierarchical_section_title: Holothuria tubulosa / Biology
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Holothuria tubulosa Gmelin, 1790 - Banyuls-sur-Mer&#160;: 07/99 '
context_page_description: Holothuria tubulosa, the cotton-spinner or tubular sea cucumber, is a species of sea cucumber in the family Holothuriidae. It is the type species of the genus Holothuria and is placed in the subgenus Holothuria, making its full name Holothuria tubulosa.
context_section_description: Holothuria tubulosa feeds on detritus, algae and plankton. It uses its tube feet to move across the surface or adhere to rocks.
  Holothuria tubulosa is dioecious, with each individual being either male or female but with no difference between them in external appearance. In a study in the Mediterranean Sea, a mass spawning event was observed in the afternoons of the two days in August 2003 that coincided with the full moon. Large numbers of mature individuals simultaneously adopted the spawning position, rearing their anterior ends up and leaving only the hind third of their body in contact with the seabed. This raises their genital orifices, situated just below the mouth, clear of the substrate to allow for maximum dispersal of the gametes. First, some individuals, believed to be males, emitted a whitish fluid which gradually dispersed in the surrounding water. Next, a smaller number of individuals, believed to be female, emitted a more viscous fluid, perhaps in response to the release of the male gametes. Each release lasted about 30 minutes. The necessary conditions for spawning seemed to be a full moon and a sea temperature of about 25 °C (77 °F).
  The fertilised eggs hatch in about 24 hours and the developing larvae are planktonic. They feed on microscopic algae and pass through several stages over the course of a few weeks before settling on the seabed and undergoing metamorphosis into juveniles.
caption: Male Holothuria tubulosa releasing sperm
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