Can anyone identify this sea cucumber?

I bought a bubble coral yesterday, and there was a little baby sea cucumber attached to it. I know absolutely nothing about sea cucumbers, but am glad to have the cute little addition to my tank.


I was wondering if someone could tell me which species it is though. unfortunately, i only have a picture of its underside, because it was on the glass....


but if someone can identify it for me, so i can know how to take proper care of it, i'd greatly appreciate it





here's the picture http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b127/D鈥?/a>


it's about 2cm in length|||Ah, he looks like a black sand sifting cucumber, Holothuria leucospilota or similar species like the H. scabra or H. atra, but it is hard to tell when so little. If it is then they are a peaceful sand sifter that can defend itself by releasing parts of its internal organs which sting/burn. They look like long white threads. They are basically harmless, but take care in handling him as they do kinda sting and they are sticky. Usually it only employs the defense mechanism when being pulled off the glass or if it gets stuck in a powerhead or bitten by a fish.





It could also be a nudibranch. Again hard to tell. Some nudibranch prey on coral.





Does it have the tell tale cucumber tentacles around the mouth?





Watch him to see if he looks like a budibranch eating coral or a cucumber eating sand.|||They often hide in the sand or under rocks. He is probably still around and you'll spot him again someday.

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|||Unfortunately, many sea cucumbers change colors by the time they mature. This site lists what I take to be the main types: http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/se鈥?/a> You can search these, in particular looking for the hair-like protrusions as not all sea cucumbers have these.