Orange-footed Sea Cucumber

The orange-footed sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) is a large sea cucumber of the cold North Atlantic that feeds with a crown of branching tentacles. It is the target of a growing fishery for Asian food markets.

🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Orange-footed Sea Cucumber in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Deuterostomia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.

The animal wedges itself in rock crevices and spreads ten feathery tentacles to trap plankton and drifting particles, wiping each tentacle in turn through its mouth. Its body has five rows of tube feet running along its length.

The body wall of sea cucumbers can change from soft to rigid in seconds, controlled by the nervous system. The collagen fibers in the dermis are of interest for designing responsive materials. Some sea cucumbers expel parts of their organs to distract predators and then regrow them.

Dried sea cucumber is a delicacy in Asia, and heavy fishing has led to declines in many species. Fisheries for this species are managed with quotas and need long recovery times.

• Common Starfish — another echinoderm
• Food web — suspension feeders in cold seas