Sea Cucumbers

Sea cucumbers belong to a group  of animals called echinoderms and they live on or near the ocean floor—sometimes partially buried underneath it. These are found in all oceans, mostly  inhabit the shallows and others live at depth of many thousands of meters. A number of cucumbers can also be found  in the deep sea.

Sea Cucumber 
Source: National Geographic

They are soft  and have cylindrical body which is on an average 10 to 30 cm in length, although the smallest known species is just 3 mm long, and the largest can reach upto 1 m. These are very lazy and slow moving. Sea cucumbers can throw out their internal organs  when threatened, and replace with a new one. But not all sea cucumbers do the same , some of them discharge sticky filaments or exude toxins.

Sea cucumbers and sea urchins are able to change the elasticity of collagen within their bodies, and could hold the key to maintaining a youthful appearance, according to scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The study was published online in the journals PLOS ONE and General and Comparative Endocrinology.


It may look like an over-grown slug, but scientists at Newcastle University believe the sea cucumber could play a vital role in the fight to save our seas -- and become an unusual addition to British gourmet food.

This salty Asian delicacy is a rich source of nutrients. It is also an important part of the marine ecosystem. Sea cucumbers are responsible for cleaning up the sea bed -- moving, consuming and mixing marine sediments.Used widely in Chinese medicine and cuisine, sea cucumbers are also a rich source of glucosamine and chondroitin which are used in a range of common food supplements.