Sea cucumbers have a history of more than 600 million years, and they do not have a sharp weapon to deter the enemy, but despite this, for hundreds of millions of years, in the marine world of the weak and the strong, they have continued to breed to this day.
In the mysterious underwater world, how sea cucumbers reproduce is known to everyone? Today Kang Kang will take you to explore it!
sexual reproduction
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Most sea cucumbers are hermaphrodite and very few are hermaphrodites. However, the male and female have no obvious features, and the living sea cucumber can only distinguish between male and female when laying eggs.
During the reproductive seasons of spring and late autumn and early winter, the reproductive glands of sea cucumbers containing eggs can be seen. The sea cucumber has only one reproductive gland, consisting of a simple or branched plexus of tubes, connected to a reproductive catheter at the rear end, forming a mop-like shape, suspended at the front of the body cavity, and finally opening the genital foramen between the two tentacles in the back and middle.
The sea cucumber foramen is located 1 to 3 cm from the head on the back of the front of the body, and is a concave hole. The pigment of the genital pores is more concentrated during the reproductive season, but it is very easy to see the genital holes outside the reproductive season.
During the breeding season, the male sea cucumber expels milky white or yellowish gonads from the reproductive hole above the head before the female sea cucumber begins to expel pink or orange-red reproductive glands.
The two reproductive glands combine in water to form an embryo that begins to divide into 512 cells, forming ear-shaped larvae that can only be seen under a microscope, as well as cilia bands. Then, after the barrel larval stage, it finally metamorphoses into adults.
agamogenesis
Compared with the sexual reproduction of ordinary animals, the asexual reproductive function of sea cucumbers adds more mysterious color.
If the sea cucumber is cut into two pieces, after 3-8 months, each segment will generate a complete sea cucumber. Some sea cucumbers also have the ability to cut themselves, and when the conditions are suitable, they can cut themselves open, and then each segment will grow into a sea cucumber.
This regenerative and restorative function of sea cucumbers has always been a problem that medical and bioengineers have studied and explored in depth.
The reproductive process of sea cucumbers is now understood by everyone. Our pure Xuan Kang sea cucumbers are harvested and landed after at least 5 years of growth in the waters of Long Island, so that they can fully grow and provide customers with richer nutrition.