Moseley’s Sea Cucumber (Pannychia moseleyi)
First discovered in the 1800s, Pannychia moseleyi, also known as Moseley’s sea cucumber, are often found at depths greater than 400 m throughout the Pacific Ocean. When stimulated, they produce blue and green colored bioluminescence over their entire body. Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, and are found worldwide in water as shallow as 70 m, to as deep as 10,000 m. They eat with tube-like feet which surround their mouths, and typically feed on algae, aquatic invertebrates, and waste particles found on the ocean floor. They can live for as long as 10 years. These cucumbers are occasionally seen on dives around Axial Seamount.
References:
Fulton-Bennett, K. (2020, June 30). Glowing to the bottom. MBARI. https://www.mbari.org/benthic-biolume/
Sea cucumbers. National Wildlife Federation. (n.d.).
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Sea-Cucumbers
