Black Sea Cucumber

The black sea cucumber is a large, soft-bodied invertebrate found on Indo-Pacific reefs. It can reach 60 cm long and weigh up to 2000 g, and it defends itself with sticky threads shot from its rear end.

Look for a long, dark grey to reddish-black sea cucumber with its rear end tucked into a crevice or under a rock, and pale tube feet visible along its underside. If disturbed, it may release sticky white threads from its rear.

The body is long and roughly cylindrical, tapering toward the rear, and covered in fleshy bumps called papillae. Colour is usually charcoal grey or reddish-black, with pale grey tube feet on the underside. Around the mouth are twenty branched tentacles used for feeding.

This species lives in shallow water, from about 6 to 13 m, on reef flats, back reefs and in coastal lagoons. It is most often found among boulders, coral patches and seagrass, with the rear of its body tucked into a crevice or under a rock.

This animal is a scavenger. It anchors its rear end under a rock or in a crevice and uses its tentacles to shovel organic debris on the seabed into its mouth, swallowing a lot of sand along the way. If disturbed, it can shoot out a mass of fine, sticky white threads called Cuvierian tubules from its rear end to tangle up a predator, then regrow them within about two to three weeks.

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  Black sea cucumber

  Holothuria atra

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  Chocolate Chip Sea Cucumber

  Isostichopus badionotus

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  Graeffe's Sea Cucumber

  Pearsonothuria graeffei

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  Greenfish Sea Cucumber

  Stichopus chloronotus

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  Leopard Sea Cucumber

  Bohadschia argus

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  Pacific White-spotted Sea Cucumber

  Actinopyga varians