The sea cucumber is one of the most common creatures in the world’s oceans — it’s found everywhere from tide pools to the deep ocean. It also has one of the most disgusting habits of any ocean creature — it shoots stuff out of its rear end to discourage hungry predators.
There are more than a thousand species of sea cucumber, which is a relative of sea stars and sea urchins. Most are shaped like worms or like vegetables, such as cucumbers. Some are less than an inch long, while others grow to several feet.
Most sea cucumbers are bottom feeders. They use several rows of tube feet to gather algae and the dead organisms and scraps that fall to the bottom. They’re common around coral reefs, but they’re also common in some of the deepest parts of the ocean, where they can account for up to 90 percent of the life on the ocean floor.
When a potential predator gets too close, the sea cucumber has a unique defense mechanism: It shoots part of its respiratory system out through its rear end — a net of sticky strands that can entangle its foe, accompanied by a toxin that’s strong enough to kill. If the cucumber escapes, those strands regenerate in a few weeks.
Sea cucumbers are quite popular in China — not just as food, but as aphrodisiacs or ingredients in folk remedies. In fact, they’re so popular that they’ve been overfished in Asian waters. That’s led to a surge in illegal fishing for them in other parts of the world, such as Mexico — meeting the demand for a common creature with a gross habit.
