Sea Cucumber

ocean floor · recyclers · echinoderms · weird animals

Looks like a cucumber. Sea cucumbers are long, bumpy, soft-bodied animals that live on the ocean floor and kind of look like the vegetables they're named after, but they're actually living creatures related to starfish.

Nature's cleanup crew. Sea cucumbers are detritivores, which means they eat dead plants, animals, and other waste on the sea floor and break it down so tiny microbes can finish the job and recycle nutrients back into the ocean.

Found everywhere underwater. There are about 1,786 known species of sea cucumbers living on ocean floors all around the world, with the most kinds hanging out in the Asia-Pacific region.

Related to starfish. Sea cucumbers belong to a group of animals called echinoderms, the same family that includes starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars.

Ocean ecosystem helpers. By breaking down dead stuff and recycling nutrients, sea cucumbers play an important job keeping ocean ecosystems healthy and balanced.