Species · GBIF taxon 5967442
California Sea Cucumber
Apostichopus californicusAlso known as Giant California Sea Cucumber, Giant Red Sea Cucumber
California sea cucumbers are large, cylindrical echinoderms covered in soft, yellowish-red conical papillae that give them a spiked appearance. They crawl slowly along the seafloor using hundreds of tiny tube feet, vacuuming up organic detritus and sediment to clean the seabed. When severely threatened, they can eject their internal organs as a defensive distraction, regenerating them completely within a few weeks.
BenthicDetritivoreMarine
Licensed reference(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Detritus
- Microalgae
- Organic sediment
Predators
- Sunflower sea star
- Sea otters
- Kelp crabs
ThreatsCommercial harvesting, habitat degradation, and ocean acidification
HabitatsRocky reefs, cobble beds, boulders, and bedrock from low intertidal to deep water
Life spanUp to 12 years
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- FamilyStichopodidae
- SpeciesApostichopus californicus
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Look in tide pools: Search deep rocky crevices during extremely low tides along the Pacific coast.
- Avoid handling: Touching them can cause them to contract tightly or stress-eviscerate their internal organs.
- Watch for movement: Observe their slow, undulating crawl and the sweeping motion of their feeding tentacles.
Predator Jerry Kirkhart from Los Osos, Calif. / CC BY 2.0 · cc-by
Close Relative 
Relative no rights reserved, uploaded by Alex Heyman · cc0
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