Black sea cucumber
Holothuria atra
Chocolate Chip Sea Cucumber
Isostichopus badionotus
About
The chocolate chip sea cucumber is a slow, harmless bottom-dweller named for the dark bumps dotting its back. It can reach up to 20 cm long and is a common sight resting on Caribbean sand and seagrass.
Also known as: chocolate chip cucumber, three-rowed sea cucumber
- Length
- 20 cm
- Depth
- up to 65 m
How to tell it apart
Its rows of raised, dark bumps, the source of its 'chocolate chip' name, set it apart from smoother sea cucumbers sharing the same sandy and seagrass bottoms.
Appearance
Its body is soft and elongated, coloured anywhere from white to orange or brown, often with darker patches. Three rows of dark, wart-like bumps run down its upper surface. On its underside, a cluster of feeding tentacles surrounds the downward-facing mouth.
Habitat
It lives in shallow, warm Atlantic waters from the Carolinas through the Caribbean to Brazil, also reaching Ascension Island and the Gulf of Guinea. It settles on sand, mud, rock, and seagrass beds, usually in shallow water but sometimes down to 65 m.
Did you know?
This animal has two food-inspired nicknames. It is called the chocolate chip sea cucumber for its dark bumps, and the cookie dough sea cucumber for the mottled colours in between them.
Log it in Into the Blue
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