Linda Lans, age 13, of Tuscan, Arizona, for her question:

What is a sea cucumber?

The sea cucumber is also called the sea caterpillar. He is neither a cucumber nor a caterpillar, but he does belong to the sea. Unlike his cousin the starfish he avoids tidal waters. He is found in most seas, often to a depth of a thousand feet or more.

A ten inch sea cucumber is about five inches around the middle. He is shaped like a garden cucumber, even to the slight curve on his long body. Some are only a few inches longer others are more stubby and round in shape. A large variety may be two feet long or more ‑ some cucumber:

In color, the sea cucumber usually blends with the mud and rocks of the sea bed. Some are muddy brown, others brownish red or even violet or crimson. Some are transparent and seem to be made from brownish glass. Not ,one of them is related to the garden cucumber and not a one even belongs to the vegetable kingdom.

The sea cucumber is an animal. He belongs to a small group of creatures, which have a whole animal phylum to themselves. Their phylum is Eehinodermata ‑ the spiny‑skinned ones. There are five classes of these remarkable animals, the starfish, the serpent star, the sea urchin, the sea lily and our friend the sea cucumber. The echinoderms are rated as the most advanced of all animals without backbones. They are one step ahead of Arthropoda, the huge phylum to which the insects and lobsters belong.

The spines of the spiny‑skinned sea cucumber are built right into his leathery coat. They are fine, sharp fragments of calcium carbonate, too small for our eyes to see. Under the microscope, with the skin dissolved away, they are seen as graceful little darts, daggers and doilies.

The sea cucumber moves slowly over the sea bed and often prefers to bury all but his mouth in the mud or sand. His mouth is surrounded by a rosette of tentacles that look like daisy petals. These tentacles are looking for food. They grab bits of seaweed, eggs a1ad small fish and stuff them into a hole in the center, which is the mouth, Sometimes the hungry fellow devours sand and mud, hoping it will contain fragments of food which he can digest.

It is said that the sea cucumber is more fussy about his diet than is the starfish, who will eat almost anything. So we are not horrified to learn that many people consider him a delicacy. He is eaten in Asia, Australia and Malaya. The Chinese call him trepang and use him to make a delicious soup.

In many parts of the world tons of plump sea cucumbers are gathered and cooked in sea water. They are then dried and stored a while. Before they are eaten they must be boiled again, this time in fresh water. The meat adds a delicate flavor to soups and chowders. What’s more, it is full of minerals and other nourishment from the sea.