Mary Allen
Sea cucumbers are sea creatures. Their shape resembles that of a cucumber, hence their name. They are also called sea rollers. Sea cucumbers don’t have bones, so they move like worms. Sea cucumbers live on the sea floor. You can find them all over the world. Sea cucumbers can live up to 5 years, sometimes up to 10 years.
The skin of sea cucumbers is rough and wrinkled. Most sea cucumbers are black or green. Some sea cucumbers are only three centimeters long, while others grow up to two meters. Instead of teeth, sea cucumbers have tentacles surrounding their mouths. They feed on plankton and eat the remains of dead sea creatures. In doing so, they take on an important task in nature: they clean the water.
The trepang, a subspecies of sea cucumber, is used as an ingredient in dishes in various Asian countries. In addition, sea cucumbers play a role in Asian medicine as an ingredient in medicines.
Sea cucumbers reproduce via eggs called roe grains or caviar grains. For reproduction, the female releases her eggs into seawater. They are then fertilized outside the womb by a male.
Natural enemies of sea cucumbers are crabs, starfish, and mussels. Sea cucumbers have an interesting ability: if an enemy bites off a body part, they can regrow that body part. This is called “regeneration”.