Sea Apple Spectacular
Ξ February 9th, 2009 | → Comments Off | ∇ My Aquarium |
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If you ever see one of these strange, beautiful species in an aquarium you will me mesmerized, as you watch them retract their colorful feeding tentacles into their mouths. I was very lucky when I took this photo and captured one of the tentacles in the mouth; look closely in the center to see this.
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| Australian Sea Apple (Pseudocolochirus axilogus) Click here or on the photo above for a larger image! |
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The body of the Australian Sea Apple is light to dark blue, and it has red feet. The tentacles are violet, blue, red, and have white tips. This a beautiful specimen is in a large reef aquarium and lives with a variety of other fish. With their tentacles they gather plankton and edible bits from the water, then the tentacles are inserted one by one into mouth.
They are also known as Sea Cucumbers and are cousins to the Starfish and the Urchins. They travel around the same way with five rows of tube feet that cling to the reefs and move them very slowly. The Philippine Sea Apple (Pseudocolochirus violaceus) available in many aquarium shops occurs in a variety of colors but always has yellow feet. This fantastic species is for experts only, they are peaceful and can reach the size of eight inches. Be aware that these gorgeous species are poisonous: they release toxic gases when stressed and upon death. |
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