Giant Sea Cucumber
Apostichophus californicus

Physical Description

• Long tubular body covered in large, stiff, conical papillae, or pseudo-spines, on body. Usually lighter in color than body.
• Body is dark red, brown, or yellow in coloration.
• Dense arrangement of tube feet on bottom.
• Adults reach 10 to 16 inches in length.

Range

• From western Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea to Baja California, Mexico.

Habitat

• Prefer exposed and sheltered areas protected from strong waves.
• Often found on gravel and shell debris.
• Live from the low intertidal zone to 300 feet deep.

Reproduction

• Giant sea cucumbers become mature at 4-8 years old.
• Giant sea cucumbers reproduce by broadcast spawning.
• The broadcast spawning events are thought to coincide with phytoplankton blooms and occurs in the summer.
• Larvae are free-swimming in the open water before settling to the bottom.

Diet

• Feeds on organic detritus and small organisms, mixed with bottom sediments.
• They are known to eat and breath with both their mouth and their anus.

Predators

• Sunflower stars, purple sun stars, sea stars, sea otters, humans.

Interesting Facts

• They are the largest sea cucumber on the Pacific Northwest coast..
• The giant sea cucumbers in Puget Sound are known to lose and regrow nearly all of their internal organs every fall!
• They can eviscerate, or spit out, all of their organs as a defense mechanism.
• In Asia, giant sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy. 

Sources: Walla Walla University; National Geographic; California Sea Grant

Photo: Herb Gruenhagen