UCB Moorea Class: Biology and Geomorphology of Tropical Islands

Defense mechanisms have been long recognized as an important factor in establishing the development of many organism life histories. As a result, many processes associated with ensuring survivability have been very well established in organisms that utilize defense mechanisms. How these defense mechanisms have shaped the evisceration and regenerative processes of sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota still remain largely unstudied. In this study it is revealed that Holothuria leucospilota remain very consistent in their modes of evisceration, ejecting the same organs in every evisceration event. The consistency is compounded by the finding that approximately 28% of their body mass is eviscerated regardless of organism size. In terms of organ regeneration, the thickening of the mesentery tissues is apparent at Day 4 and regeneration of the digestive tract at Day 16. Sediment feeding also resumes at Day 16 along with the regeneration of the digestive tract. No regeneration of the left respiratory tree or gonads is observed within the 28-day study.