Sea Cucumbers - Vacuum Cleaners of the Sea!
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Sea Cucumbers. Nope, Not Vegetables. They're Animals!
Sea Cucumbers are interesting creatures. Yup, they are animals, and not plants or--as their name might imply--vegetables. Sea cucumbers are relatives of the starfish and sea urchins, of the phylum Echinodermata--Echinoderms have radiating parts--and are also known as Holothurids of the Class Holothuroidea. Although they occur in almost any of the world's oceans, they are extremely common in tropical areas--particularly on the coral reef flats.
And they come in all shapes and sizes (and COLORS)!
Although most folks will be familiar with the common black or brown sea cucumber as shown in the picture in this module, you will learn that sea cucumbers can look like decorative pillows such as the candy-striped specimen and the multi-tufted specimen shown elsewhere on this Squidoo lens. Depending on which marine biology expert you talk to, there are about 1300 known species, and you can find the sea cucumbers living in all of the world's oceans.
Sea Cucumbers are bottom dwellers--and eat whatever small things they can filter through their tentacles and mouth in the water and sand near the sea floor. They eat organic material--whether planktonic plant or animal life, bits of broken coral, bits of broken sea weed, fish and marine animal excrement, and so on. They pass this stuff through their bodies and excrete the essentially "turned" sand, acting much in the same way that terrestrial earthworms digest and process the organic materials in the soil.
Sea Cucumbers (3 - 4 different species) in a Holding Tank, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Mangilao, Guam
Sea Cucumbers--the Beche-de-Mer! The Trepang!
Believe it or not, you can eat many of the varieties of sea cucumbers! Most commonly, you can find sea cucumbers on the menus at Chinese Restaurants--although it may be listed somewhat subtly in the "translation" of the menu. It may be called "Beche-de-Mer" or "Trepang". Sometimes it will be chopped and cooked in sauce with other seafood such that you wouldn't recognize it as being "something different". Other times, it will definitely look like "something different" on your plate of noodles! One Way To Find Sea Cucumbers--Get in the Water and Look!
Here are some goodies showing how it's done!
Snorkeling in Paradise Greeting Cards (Package of
Greeting Cards (Pk of 10)
Price:
16.99'
Snorkeling in Paradise Mug
Mug
Price:
12.99'
Snorkeling in Paradise Postcards (Package of 8)
Postcards (Package of 8)
Price:
7.99'
Snorkeling in Paradise Rectangle Magnet
Rectangle Magnet
Price:
4.99'
Snorkeling in Paradise Mousepad
Mousepad
Price:
12.99'
Side View of a Sea Cucumber in Holding Tank, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Mangilao, Guam
Sea Cucumber Stuff on eBay!
Yup. You can Eat Some of Them. These books tell you how!
Close Up of Sea Cucumbers in Holding Tank, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Mangilao, Guam
Not the Best Things You Can Put In Your Aquarium. Or Pick Up, For That Matter!
Sea cucumbers have some quirky habits.One of these habits is their urge to spill their guts whenever you bother them, try to pick them up, or piss them off. They call this evisceration. When this happens, a toxin is released that kills fish. If this happens in your aquarium, consider all the other critters in your aquarium dead.
However, even though this danger exists, the sea cucumbers (also known as "cukes" among certain beach-goers) are hosts to a fish called a "pearl-fish" that lives inside the sea cucumber. The fish protects its host, and at the same time, the cucumber provides a formidable protective home for the fish in a sort of delicate balance.
Common Black Sea Cucumber, Ipao Beach, Tumon Bay, Guam
Catch Up on Sea Cucumbers! ... Not that they are fast or anything like that..
Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! by Robin D. Gill
Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! is a book of many faces. (1) It more...0 points
Aspidochirotida: Giant California Sea Cucumber, Parastichopus Parvimensis, Isostichopus Badionotus, Holothuriidae, Holothuria Atra, Stichopodidae
Purchase includes free access to book updates onli more...0 points
Edible? Incredible! (Sea Life/Marine Life) by Marjorie Furlong and Virginia Pill
This soft back measures 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 approximatel more...0 points
Echinoderms: Echinoderm, Sea Urchin, Crinoid, Benthos, Starfish, Sea Cucumber, Brittle Star, Stelleroidea
Purchase includes free access to book updates onli more...0 points
Sea Cucumber in Holding Tank, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Mangilao, Guam
Cucumber Links! (Sorta like Sausage Links... but squirmier!)
- University of Guam Marine Laboratory
- The Indo-Pacific underwater ecosystem studied by the University of Guam Marine Laboratory has a huge variety of sea cucumbers.
- Sea Cucumber Videos! (Yeah, really EXCITING!)
- This link has a bunch of videos of sea cucumbers doing all sorts of amazing tricks. (If you believe that, I've got a bridge I can sell ya! -- Would you settle for a nice dinner of "Beche-De-Mer"?)
White and Black Wild Caught Sea Cucumbers on Sale at an Asian Food Supermarket
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Squid graphic courtesy of Squidoo Squid Graphics For Your Lenses! by GreekGeek.
Drop a Note and Say Hi!
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FixbuttonHQ
Nov 5, 2011 @ 5:00 pm | delete
- Sea cucumbers make me giggle. Awesome lens!
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The_Goblins_Den
Feb 3, 2011 @ 4:36 pm | delete
- Interesting creatures, sea cucumbers. Japan loves them, apparently...there's thousands of Haiku poems that have been written about the buggers.
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wahlee Oct 13, 2010 @ 3:07 am | delete
- A great topic.We have been selling sea cucumbers for many years in our shop.Just got in some small dried ones with those sharp pointy bits on.
Recently, Auckland New Zealand has been trying to say that we have had a influx of toxic seaslug/sea cucumbers.This is used as an excuse (maybe truth???) for why some dogs were dying on our beaches.In fact, just before that was happening, there was an aerial drop of broadifacaum(rat poison) and also another poison used a lot in these parts by our so called environmental action department.This was to rid Auckland Islands of animals that are foreign in origin to our native species.Of course, being the vacuum cleaners of the sea that they are, maybe the sea cucumbers did eat up the misdirected haphazard aerial drops of the poisons.
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kesoma_rai
Jun 19, 2009 @ 12:48 pm | delete
- Hi Dave,
In Malaysia, we used sea cucumber extract as medicine due to their excellent healing properties.
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naturegirl7 Nov 30, 2008 @ 7:39 pm | delete
- Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group. Don't forget to add your lens link to the appropriate plexo and vote for it.
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Yup... it's Incredible... they're EDIBLE!
Edible? Incredible! (Sea Life/Marine Life)
Amazon Price: $9.90 (as of 06/03/2012)
I've had sea cucumbers a number of times for dinner... they made for an interesting meal. And maybe the recipes in this book will add to the interest of your meals as well.
Poems (actually Haiku) to the Sea Slugs (Sea Cucumbers)!
Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!
Amazon Price: $22.43 (as of 06/03/2012)
A poetic approach to everything holothurid... everything you want to know about sea slugs or sea cucumbers presented in a poetic way--in haiku.
A Field Guide to Sea Cucumbers?
Sea Cucumbers of British Columbia (Royal British Columbia Museum Handbook,)
Amazon Price: $23.41 (as of 06/03/2012)
If you're on a beach or oceanside of the Pacific Northwest and you see a sea cucumber, this book may help you to identify it.
