A class of sea cucumbers with feathery, tree-like tentacles arranged in a circle around their mouth.
From Greek dendro- (tree) + cheir- (hand) + -ota (suffix indicating a group). The name refers to the hand-like appearance of these tentacles which branch like trees and are used to filter-feed from seawater.
Sea cucumbers in this class are basically ocean-floor vacuum cleaners with fancy tree-shaped mouths—those feathery tentacles work like a strainer, pulling plankton and tiny food particles right into their bodies as they suck water through!
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