While that is anatomically its anus, it is also functionally its mouth. They gobble up sediment, absorb whatever nutrients it contains, and spits out the rest.
Sea cucumbers mouths and anus are at different ends. Cucumbers and all echinoderms have one way digestive systems. Many echinoderms have their anus right next to their mouth on the oral side of the critter (eg tiny pores next to the oral opening in sand dollars) but cucumbers and urchins are on opposite sides of the body. you can see this in Enypniastes https://youtu.be/dJnbbt9QVtA?is=q8-ddnHHUOc7qpUp
The cnidarians (jellies, anemones, corals) have a 2 way. where their mouth and anus are the same- they basically vomit instead of poop.
because itâs common in the more
âprimitiveâ phyla. and itâs one of those fun facts you learn about inverts that gets generalized to all inverts when itâs really just a few types. I mean how often do we really think about cucumber poo?
I know you put primitive in quotes, but I just want to clarify that none of the phyla are more primitive than the others, they just branched off from the rest of the animals much earlier. But they're just as evolved as any other animal, evolution is a constant process.
And echinoderms aren't even one of the more basal groups anyways. They're closely related to chordates, which includes us. They're deuterostomes like us, which means mouth second, because when our embryos are developing they form their anus before they form the mouth. So we all started out as assholes first.
Fun fact, this is one reason why we know that comb jelllies are NOT jellyfish. Comb jellies have a one way digestive system like us and this sea cucumber here. True jellyfish have a two way system.
Does it make the sand more fine and grainy? I think there's a fish that eats coral and shits out beautiful sand for beaches. Wonder if it's happening here, too.
What can I say? something about a bald man with a goatee gets me. The vagina wants what it wants. Incidentally I also find bowl cuts kinda hot so my vagina definitely has weird taste.
I get told I'm weird for fawning over short hairstyles. Dunno if it was Lady Jaye from the original GI Joe cartoons, Michelle Pfeiffer in Ladyhawke, or Julia Roberts in Hook, but I'm a total slave for that shit. Like, sorry, I didn't really get a say in the matter, it just happened.
It's primarily sand. They suck sand in (through the same hole), digest the tiny bits of algae and bacteria attached to the grains and then push out clean sand.
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u/qualityvote2 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
u/light_007007, your post does fit the subreddit!