Tentacle movement patterns involved in feeding behaviour of the sea cucumber,cucumaria frondosa

Feeding patterns of the sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) involve successive insertions of one of its ten tentacles into its mouth. Each tentacle is activated equally often. Adjacent tentacles seldom precede each other and more or less opposite tentacles are successively activated. Neither the direction nor the amplitude of rotation is especially predictable. The probability of a tentacle being activated is related to the number of events in which it has not been activated. Several indices based on previous occurrences are examined for the ability to predict the subsequent tentacle to be used.