Sea Cucumber

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea, benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, with about 1,786 known species, the greatest number found in the Asia-Pacific region. They serve a useful role in the marine ecosystem as detritivores that help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus and other organic matter so that microbes can continue the decomposition process, and they have a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad, named for their overall resemblance to the fruit of the cucumber plant. Many species are foraged as food by humans and some are cultivated in aquaculture, considered a delicacy especially in Asian cuisines, where the harvested product is variously called trepang, namako or beche-de-mer.