4m striped snake/worm at Caleta Tagus in the Galapagos

Can anyone identify this critter for me please? Was photographed at Caleta Tagus off Isabela in the Galapagos in July 06. The photo only show part of it. It was at least 4m measured against buddy. Definitely alive, it pulsated...

Thanks,

Toby

Can anyone identify this critter for me please? Was photographed at Caleta Tagus off Isabela in the Galapagos in July 06. The photo only show part of it. It was at least 4m measured against buddy. Definitely alive, it pulsated...

 

Thanks,

Toby

I think this is a sea cucumber.. Not a clue on the latin side of things though,,,,

I would say a its more like the film strip worm discussed in this post

although 4m would be pretty long by the sounds of it

I would say a its more like the film strip worm discussed in this post

 

although 4m would be pretty long by the sounds of it

i'm pretty sure of the size - i measured it against my buddy and was at least two of her...

i would have taken more photos but noone else seemed that bothered (more interested in yet another whitetip...) and i assumed it was commonplace.

colouring is quite a bit different to the filmstrip worm in the photo - i'd never heard of them before - can't find much information through google - have you any more info?

sounds like an undescribed species to me B)

There's not enough detail in the image to be sure. Did you get any close ups? It certainly could be a synaptid cucumber like Euapta godfroyii. The typical coloration is brown & white bands and they're reported up to 3 m. The pulsing as food is moved along the food also sounds more cucumber than nemertean or echiuroid.

There's not enough detail in the image to be sure. Did you get any close ups? It certainly could be a synaptid cucumber like Euapta godfroyii. The typical coloration is brown & white bands and they're reported up to 3 m. The pulsing as food is moved along the food also sounds more cucumber than nemertean or echiuroid.

i was hoping you'd pop along

no close-ups sadly. got a processing-fiend seeing if he can get any detail from the few photos i did take.

didn't realise cucumbers got as large as that - i thought they were only up to ~1m.

way to go to ruin my excitement

Sorry to bring you down! Even if it was a new species nothing could be done unless you brought up some specimens & got a specialist to describe it.

the film-strip worm is an undescribed species (or several) in the echiuroid family Ikediidae, genus Ikeda. The only portion that shows is the probobscis which gathers food & carries it back to the mouth. The body stays hidden in a burrow in the sand or under a rock.

It's hard to estimate size in soft bodied animals. A 4m synaptid could retract down to 1m pretty easily.

Last year I did some field work in pacific panama. We looked at some mesh bags which had been down for a year to collect animals. There were 100s of Euapta entwined in the meshes & they were a major pain to get out. Being so soft they would split into multiple pieces which stuck to our gloves & suits. They must be pretty bad tasting to be that big & soft & not be eaten.

Good one Leslie for setting us right

It's hard to estimate size in soft bodied animals. A 4m synaptid could retract down to 1m pretty easily.

Hard to estimate ??? ... its hard to imagine a 4m soft sea cucumber

A while back I sent this url to Nemertinator, a WP member and curator of nemerteans at the Smithsonian, for his opinion. Just like I want every worm to be a polychaete he wants them to be nemerteans. Here's his reply:

"The wetpixel worm has good possibility to be Baseodiscus mexicanus; size certainly is a plausible fit. Looks like the pic may have had a horrible color shift. It could be a Notospermus sp as well, a very different kind of heteronemertean - can't be sure without the head, and color looks too far off to get a good guess on actual color."

Leander posted back in January about a Notospermus which you can compare yours to: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...amp;hl=nemertea