Britannica Sources used in this answer

How do tentacles help sea cucumbers find and capture food?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Two wild horses graze on tall grass in the open prairie of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with rolling badlands visible in the background. — Feeding behaviour Wild horses graze in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Sea cucumbers utilize their specialized tentacles, which are located around the mouth, as essential tools for their feeding behavior. Depending on the species and their environment, these tentacles function in several ways:

Suspension Feeding: Some sea cucumbers remain attached to a surface and use a network of branching, sticky tentacles to capture plankton from the water.1
Selective Feeding: Other species use their tentacles to actively select food particles directly from the seafloor and push the gathered material into their mouths.1
Deposit Feeding: Many sea cucumbers, such as those in the genus Holothuria, act as deposit feeders. They ingest large amounts of mud or sand to extract organic nutrients, a process often compared to the feeding habits of earthworms.21

In addition to these feeding roles, the 10 or more retractile tentacles can also be used by the animal for burrowing.2