What Is A Sea Cucumber?

Sea cucumbers are part of the Holothuroidea family and can be found on the seabed in oceans/seas throughout the world.  Despite their name suggesting they look like cucumbers, they look more like slugs although they are slightly more sausage shaped and they often have a very warty skin.


They are basically scavengers, who live on the sea bed and eat debris which drifts down there, usually plankton. They are an interesting animal because they basically breathe in through drawing water through their anus and then expelling it.

Within the cuisines of the far east, in particular Japan, they are considered a great delicacy.  In Russia they are also 'farmed' to maximize production.

They are also regarded as having great healing properties within Eastern medicine.  Recently this has started to become of interest to western pharmaceutical companies.  The sea cucumber is said to assist with tissue repair from injuries and to significantly reduce scarring.