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Animal profile

California Sea Cucumber

Apostichopus californicus

HolothuroideaRocky and soft seabeds of the north-east Pacific, from the low intertidal to about 250 metres

Field profile

A large reddish-brown sea cucumber reaching about half a metre in length, with rows of soft conical projections along the body. It sweeps organic material from sediment using branched oral tentacles. It supports a commercial dive fishery in British Columbia and Alaska.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-07-04

California Sea Cucumber

A sea cucumber can eject its own internal organs

Under severe stress the animal ruptures its body wall and expels part of its gut and associated tissue. It survives the loss and regrows the missing organs over a period of weeks, a defence known as evisceration.

Read with evidence →

California Sea Cucumber | Daily Animal Facts