sea cucumber Staurocucumis turqueti

Staurocucumis turqueti is found in Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula and South Orkney Islands from 10 to 385 meters depth [2,4,5]. S. turqueti is chestnut or brown colored [1,2]. S. turqueti has been collected at lengths up to thirty centimeters [2].

Staurocucumis turqueti is a suspension feeder and has been observed on the sediment surface holding the anterior half of its body vertically up in the water to suspension feed [6]. S. turqueti has been observed attached to sponges [6].

Taxonomic Note: Appears under other genera in the older literature including Abyssocucumis, Cucumaria and Ekmocucumis [2,3,4,7].

1: C Vaney. Holothuries. Expedition Antarctique Francaise (1903-1905). Paris : Masson et Cie, 1906; 2: S Ekman. Holothurien. Further Zoological Results of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1901-1903. Volume 1, Number 6. Stockholm : PA Norstedt & Soner, 1925; 3: Julian Gutt, personal communication, 1999; 4: Tethys 5(4):601-610, 1974; 5: Berichte zur Polarforschung 41:1-87, 1988; 6: Polar Biology 11(3):145-155, 1991; 7: Memoirs of Museum Victoria 59(2):297–325, 2002

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