Stichopus tremulus

In echinoderms, zinc concentrations are usually higher in detrital feeders than in carnivores, higher in surface feeders than in sediment feeders, and higher in specimens collected inshore than those collected offshore in deeper waters (Eisler 1980). Sea cucumbers, Stichopus tremulus, accumulate radiozinc-65 from seawater by a factor of 1400 however, radiozinc accumulation data should be viewed with caution because addition of stable zinc can reduce zinc-65 accumulations in echinoderm viscera up to tenfold (Eisler 1981). Zinc inhibits the formation of the fertilization membrane in sea urchin eggs, possibly by interfering with cortical granule-derived proteases and proteins (Nakamura et al. 1989). 

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