Oestergrenia digitata (Montagu, 1815)

Oestergrenia digitata

Description: A worm-like holothurian which burrows in muddy sand and has twelve digitate tentacles and no tube-feet. Each tentacle has four digits. The colour is pink or red-brown, sometimes purple. The spicules are anchors and racket shaped anchor-plates with handles. Up to 30cm in length.

Habitat: Burrows in clean or muddy sand and reaches out of its burrow to collect fine particles of detritus with its tentacles. Found from the lower shore to 70m depth.

Distribution: Recorded from all western coasts of the British Isles.

Similar Species: Labidoplax thompsoni (Herapath, 1865) is a similar species which differs primarily in having strange irregularly thickened plates in the anterior end of the body.

Key Identification Features:

• Worm-like pink holothurian.
• 12 tentacles each with 4 digits.
• Shape of spicules.

Distribution Map: NBN map : National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

WoRMS: Species record : World Register of Marine Species.

iNaturalist: Species account : iNaturalist World Species Observations database