(No common name)

FAMILY

Hexacrobylidae

TAXONOMY

Hexacrobylus indicus Oka, 1913, Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body oval, not usually exceeding 0.8 in (2 cm) high. Atrial siphon relatively long, but it is internal, and thus can be seen only on dissected specimens after test is removed. On surface of test, only small inconspicuous atrial opening is present on top of body. Branchial siphon is large and muscular. On preserved specimens, siphon is internal, lying wholly within the body, but it is not known whether this is normal in living specimens. Branchial siphon opens on anterior part of the body by wide slit surrounded by six wide lobes. Body coated by fine short hairs that are significantly longer on the posterior end of body, suggesting specimens sit vertically at the bottom.

DISTRIBUTION

All oceans except central Arctic and North and East Pacific Oceans.

HABITAT

Lives unattached on soft muddy bottom of continental slopes and abyssal plains and trenches; recorded from 1,970 to 24,540 ft (600 to 7,480 m) deep.

BEHAVIOR

Nothing is known.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Carnivorous, including small invertebrates.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Nothing is known.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.