Mondo Knows Facts
Sea cucumbers expel internal organs through their anus to deter predators
A threatened sea cucumber ejects sticky toxic gut filaments.
When attacked by crabs or fish, sea cucumbers violently contract body wall muscles to expel Cuverian tubules and internal organs out through their anus. The sticky white filaments tangle predators, and the sea cucumber regrows its digestive tract within a few weeks.
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Tags: sea-cucumber, ocean, defense
Sea cucumbers expel internal organs through their anus to deter predators: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A threatened sea cucumber ejects sticky toxic gut filaments. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Ocean, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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