The class Holothuroidea consists of tubular molluscs with a tentacle mouth at one end and an anus at the other. Many species are human food.
Apple sea cucumber (Pseudocolochirus violaceus) is 15-18 cm long, living on reefs in many different seas around the world. This species of sea cucumber has orange or yellow legs, diverse body colors, and contains very strong toxins.
Leopard sea cucumber (Bohadschia argus) 38-60 cm long, distributed from the western Indian Ocean, around Madagascar to the South Pacific. They are large in size, varied in color, always spotty.
The tiger-tailed sea cucumber (Holothuria thomasi) is 2 meters long, recorded in the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite its enormous size, it was not until 1980 that this amazing camouflaged sea cucumber was first described.
Red-bellied sea cucumber (Holothuria edulis) is 25-30 cm long, especially common in tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. They are caught and dried for human consumption.
Worm sea cucumber (Synapta maculata) is 60 cm long. This species has a soft and long worm-like body, burrowing in soft sediments.
The large California prickly sea cucumber (Sticopus californius), 35-40 cm long, is the largest species of sea cucumber on the Pacific coast of North America. These spiny creatures are caught as a specialty.
Golden sea cucumber (Colochirus robustus) 5-8 cm long, distributed in the Indo-Pacific. They belong to a family of thick-skinned ginseng, many species have protrusions around the body.
Pomegranate sea cucumber (Thelenota ananas) 60-75 cm long, lives on the sandy seafloor around coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. They belong to a family of sea cucumbers that have fleshy spines covering their bodies.
Deep-sea sea cucumber (Kolga hyalina) is 30 cm long, distributed around the world at depths of 1,500 meters. They are one of the less-visited sea cucumbers, living in the depths of the ocean.
