Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber

This sea cucumber is transversely wrinkled and reaches 50 cm (20 in) in total length. It has a top surface that is dull brown or grey with occasional warts. The bottom surface is reddish, orange or pale and is uniformly covered in tube feet. Populations are unimodal and have a 1:1 male to female sex ratio.

This species is found throughout the Caribbean and reaches southern Brazil.

It is a shallow or demersal water species most commonly found between 2 and 10 m (7 and 33 ft) depth and up to 20 m (66 ft) depth. It inhabits sandy bottoms with calm waters including seagrass beds, offshore reefs or mangroves.

Holothuria mexicana feeds on sediments at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, specifically consuming organic matter such as algae, tiny aquatic organisms and waste materials. Metals, such as copper, nickel, lead and zinc associated with coastal pollution, can bioaccumulate within H. mexicana tissues. Therefore, this species has been suggested as a biological indicator for these metals.

Minimum size at sexual maturity is between 13 cm (5 in) and 20 cm (8 in) total length and 150 g (5 oz) gutted weight, though smaller sexually mature individuals have been found.

Holothuria mexicana spawns throughout the year but has peak spawning periods that varies with geography, which may linked to temperature. Spawning occurs from May to July in Panama, August to September in Florida, and September to October in Curaçao.

During spawning, females forcefully expel all their eggs into the water in a single burst from their gonopore (the opening where gametes are released). Both males and females sometimes wave their tentacles around during spawning which may aid in fertilization by mixing the sperm and eggs. After fertilization, eggs develop into non-feeding auricular larvae develop in ~64 hours.