Originally published at: Watch a ravenous sea cucumber open its alien-like mouth and shovel food into it's mouth using 9 appendages | Boing Boing
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Ten appendages! Many sea cucumbers are exceptions to the general rule that echinoderms have parts in fives, but this is not one of them. They’re wonderful and strange creatures.
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that was way more hilarious and cool that I was expecting. But then who is ever expecting a water snake toy turning into a gift-bag tissue paper explosion, then licking it’s fingers like a child in a pizza hut commercial.
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“Vladivostok once again is called Haishenwai (meaning Sea Cucumber Bay)…”
Coincidence? After watching that video, I think not.
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I was a guest at a Chinese New Year family celebration, and the family was very concerned about the fact I’m a vegetarian. I assured them that there’s always so much food that I consider it a blessing in disguise that I can only eat 1/3-1/2 of the dishes.
So the first couple of courses were served, and I couldn’t eat any of them. No worries! But then they brought out the sea cucumber, and were very vocal about how finally I had a dish I could eat too!
Yeah, I felt terrible having to explain to them that they’re actual animals, not cucumbers. I find it interesting that even those who prepare them to be eaten don’t necessarily register that they are living creatures, not vegetables.
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i tried it once in a sushi joint in Washington. i was not impressed.
Dear Brother and i would see them often when diving in Puget Sound. pretty cool creatures.
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Would you say, as cool as a cucumber?
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Reminds me of my teenage son.
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I knew they’re echinoderms. But vegetables are living creatures, too
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Sure, does “creature” mean animal to you?
That is a traditional definition. If not in certain fields, no need to be smug about it.
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Not intending to be smug; it’s a genuine question. Creature doesn’t have any precise scientific meaning, but I never took it as animal specific
eta: I looked it up on miriam-webster and was immediately reminded why I don’t normally use the cite; apparently antonym and synonym mean the same thing:
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It’s generally understood to mean animal or human, not plants.
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Oh, sorry.
I often use the dictionary, but almost never go to the thesaurus site. Actually, upon looking at the synonyms (for creature) on the dictionary site, I see that they are also rather inaccurate. The synonyms on the dictionary didn’t used to be so bad. I suspect some sort of glitch.
ETA: In thinking about it some more, they might not exactly be inaccurate. It’s just that the dictionary is allowing a lot of slang usage in the synonyms, which is not what I’ve usually seen.
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I have no doubt spent too much time on this, but I have figured out that puzzle you presented.
The antonym list in your picture goes with definition 1: person - a member of the human race.
The synonym list goes with definition 2: animal.
And now back to our marine life, already in progress…
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But the wikipedia calls it an animal, not a vegetable? 
That seems a distinction worth noting.
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That scene looks to have been pulled from the BBC Blue Planet II documentary, and many of its scenes were significantly sped up so that the audience could observe behaviors and processes that move too slowly to be appreciated.
Here’s a video of a sea cucumber at normal speed. Sorry to say it’s not as dramatic… but still interesting:
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