Sea Pigs Rock!

Sea Pigs have been quite the topic of conversation everywhere I go with guesses from mutant rabbit to raw chicken. This sea cucumber—held by Sadie Mills of New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research—is known as a sea pig.

These creatures live on or just underneath the surface of the very bottom of the ocean, on the abyssal plain. Called “sea pigs”, they are a type of sea cucumber, which is a member of the same phylum as starfish and sea urchins (Echinoderms). They look and act kind of like slugs do up here on land. They feed on the mud of the sea floor, benefiting from the organic materials that settle to the ocean bottom. Sea cucumbers, starfish and sea urchins can be found in all depths of the ocean. For reasons scientists don’t yet understand, members of the phylum Echinodermata (like the sea pigs) are extremely successful down in the ocean depths. They are the most plentiful species of sea creature down there. The sea floor must be “hog heaven” for these sea pigs! This guy does look kinda like a pig, doesn’t he? Mills and colleagues collected the organism, among more than 30,000 animals, during a marine census of southern Antarctica in early 2008. Sea cucumbers are part of a group of marine animals that inhabit the seafloor, including sea squirts, sea stars (starfish), sea slugs, corals, clams, sponges, and urchins. Physical characteristics: Sea pigs are clear sea cucumbers 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) long. They have ten tentacles and a few large tube feet. The tube feet on the top side of sea pigs are two widely spaced antennalike pairs. The other tube feet are arranged in a row around the edge of the bottom side of the animal. The pieces of the body wall skeleton are smooth to spiny rods and smaller C-shaped rods. Sea pigs are also called sea cows because the tube feet on the top side of the body look like cattle horns. Geographic range: Sea pigs live all over the world except the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean near Central and South America. Habitat: Sea pigs live in the deep ocean. Diet: Sea pigs eat food particles they find in the sand. Behavior and reproduction: Sea pigs move above the bottom using long tube feet. These sea cucumbers form large groups. Sea pigs feed Sea pigs eat food particles they find in the sand. (Illustration by Emily Damstra. Reproduced by permission.) by using their tentacles to push sand or mud into their mouth. Scientists do not know how sea pigs reproduce. Sea pigs and people: Sea pigs have no known importance to people.

In case you were wondering - lol

oh, and msoyster is a real sea life expert and could answer any further questions anyone may have