New Jersey Scuba Diving

Hairy Sea Cucumber

Sclerodactyla briareus

Size: to 6", larger offshore

The Sea Cucumber is not a worm, but an echinoderm, related to the starfish. If you look closely, the 5-way symmetry is still evident. Sea Cucumbers live buried in sandy or muddy bottoms less than 60 ft deep. Find them by the volcano-shaped mounds they make.

Echinoderms

Echinoderms ( literally "spiny skins" ) are among the strangest animals on the planet. They start out as bilaterally symmetric larvae but grow into a 5-way body symmetry as adults. Some species show six, seven, or even higher levels of symmetry. Worm-like Sea Cucumbers have re-evolved a bilateral body plan over the underlying 5-way plan. Because of certain developmental traits, it is felt that despite their strangeness, echinoderms are actually more closely related to chordates than any other group.

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Ships & Barges

Morania Abaco reef — Four explosive charges set by a U.S. Navy demolition team rip holes in the hull of the *Morania Abaco* on the Atlantic City Reef. ( Photo by Ray Fisk )

Old Ships Make New Homes For Fish

Old vessels make excellent artificial reefs. They provide high profile structure for pelagic fish, low profile structure for demersal fish, as well as surface area for the attachment of mussels, barnacles, tubeworms, and other food organisms. Shipwrecks have been the basis for the state's bottom fisheries which feature sea bass, tautog, ling, cod, and pollock. and for recreational scuba diving activities. The New Jersey coast has a large number of shipwrecks, estimates range from 500 to 3,000. These wrecks are the result of 200 years of maritime disasters and enemy submarine operations during World Wars I and II.

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