{"id":28129,"date":"2023-06-01T15:29:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T13:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/?post_type=purple_issue&#038;p=28129"},"modified":"2023-06-01T18:27:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T16:27:31","slug":"surprise-attack-from-the-rear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/2023\/06\/01\/surprise-attack-from-the-rear\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise attack from the rear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center sans-serif intro\">Sea cucumbers channel their inner spider to entangle predators <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"no-tts wp-block-image article-in-image photo\"><figure class=\"no-tts aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"no-tts wp-image-28127\" width=\"797\" height=\"1099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55.jpg 1206w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-218x300.jpg 218w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-743x1024.jpg 743w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-768x1059.jpg 768w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-1114x1536.jpg 1114w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 797px) 100vw, 797px\" \/><figcaption>The research focused on black sea cucumbers. Here, one spawns off the coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"no-tts wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"no-tts alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/Ting-Chen_no-credit-needed_preview-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"no-tts wp-image-28547\" width=\"136\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/Ting-Chen_no-credit-needed_preview-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/Ting-Chen_no-credit-needed_preview-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/Ting-Chen_no-credit-needed_preview.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 136px) 100vw, 136px\" \/><figcaption>Ting Chen led the sea cucumber study<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif dropcap\">SEA CUCUMBERS AREN\u2019T BUILT FOR fleeing from predators. But they do have a trick up their sleeves \u2013 or more accurately, up their bottoms \u2013 for dealing with danger. And new research sheds light on why it is so effective. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">Their secret weapon is called the Cuvierian organ. It\u2019s a branch of the animal\u2019s gills, which sit just inside the anus, that extends into the body\u2019s interior. When danger threatens, the gut wall ruptures and the organ is ejected through their rear ends. On contact with seawater, it transforms into sticky, spaghetti-like threads that immobilise assailants. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">The new <em>PNAS <\/em>study shows that the threads are built of proteins similar to those found in spider silk. These are so strong and sticky that no predators seem to have come up with a way of dealing with them, says Ting Chen of China\u2019s South Sea Institute of Oceanology. \u201cInterestingly, as a counteradaptation, most predators have given up hunting sea cucumbers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"sans-serif article-byline\"><strong>Stuart Blackman <\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"footer\">SEA CUCUMBER: WATERFRAME\/ALAMY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEA CUCUMBERS AREN\u2019T BUILT FOR fleeing from predators. But they do have a trick up their sleeves \u2013 or more accurately, up their bottoms \u2013 for dealing with danger. And new research sheds light on why it is so effective. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"24","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"24","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_24-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_24-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"June-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"June-2023","purple_external_id":"June-2023-24-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"June-2023-24-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000087245||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000087245||","purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.505","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.505","purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.505","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.505","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"58d61955-0ac4-406c-83f1-ab6f21d86b70","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-05-30T10:20:46Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"50bef471-e13d-4a3d-9fd6-b59745a21b26","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-06-01T13:52:31Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AUL70ceE9Sj2f1rWXRaIbJg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[25],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55.jpg",1206,1663,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-218x300.jpg",218,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-768x1059.jpg",768,1059,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-743x1024.jpg",743,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55-1114x1536.jpg",1114,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/ff5f3227-a0c5-4f7b-9a96-142908c1ba55.jpg",1206,1663,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"SEA CUCUMBERS AREN\u2019T BUILT FOR fleeing from predators. But they do have a trick up their sleeves \u2013 or more accurately, up their bottoms \u2013 for dealing with danger. And new research sheds light on why it is so effective.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28129"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29058,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28129\/revisions\/29058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}