Psychropotes longicauda
species of echinoderm
Psychropotes longicauda is a species of sea cucumber in the family Psychropotidae. It inhabits the deep sea where the adult is found on the seabed. The larva is pelagic and has an appendage shaped like a sail on its back which may enable it to move through the water.
The animal is sometimes called the "gummy squirrel" because it looks like a squirrel-shaped gummy bear.
Description
As an adult, Psychropotes longicauda has eighteen short feeding tentacles, each with a leathery terminal disc with retractile processes projecting around the margin. Its body is very flexible and can grow to a length of between 14 and 32 cm (5.5 and 12.6 in). It is approximately cylindrical but broadest and somewhat flattened near the anterior end. At the posterior end there is a dorsal, tail-like appendage up to 12 cm (4.7 in) long, either pointed or with a pair of unequal-length tips. There is a double row of small tube feet along the ventral surface and a single row of larger tube feet on each side of the body. The skin is soft and pliable and the colour is violet in preserved specimens.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Psychropotes longicauda” as species of echinoderm. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of echinoderm. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2068544. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Psychropotes longicauda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.