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A sea cucumber on the National Geographic show, World's weirdest

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A sea cucumber on the National Geographic show, World's weirdest

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Sea Cucumber Fights with Guts (Literally) | World's Weirdest

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A sea cucumber uses it's guts to attack any predators around.

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A sea cucumber uses it's guts to attack any predators around.

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Sea cucumbers, despite the name, are no mere vegetables.

These marine invertebrates play many roles, from bottom-dwelling filter feeders to illicit delicacies. Sea cucumbers are farmed and imported in large numbers in Asia, where their demand as food has fueled a thriving black market. (Find out why smuggling of this ocean creature may skyrocket.)

In this recently shot video, Vitaly Bazarov filmed what seems like an interminably long sea cucumber seen while he was diving in the Red Sea in Egypt. The species is likely Synapta maculata -a snake-like type of sea cucumber that is among the world's longest, known to reach lengths of seven to 10 feet.

The tentacles at one end of its body are used for sweeping organic matter and floating debris into its mouth as it glides through the soft sediments of the ocean floor.

More than 1,200 known species of sea cucumber exist around the world. They range in appearance from squat and potato-like to hairy-looking worms. Some use tiny tube feet to crawl, while others, like Synapta, move in undulating, wavelike motions.

In addition to being caught for food, sea cucumbers are prized for medicinal purposes. One study found that a protein extracted from a sea cucumber slowed the growth of the malaria parasite. It is also said that the animals can help cure impotence and increase longevity, but there is little evidence to support these claims.

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Watch: Divers Stumble Across a Super-Long Sea Cucumber

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Sea cucumbers, despite the name, are no mere vegetables. These marine invertebrates play many roles, from bottom-dwelling filter feeders to illicit delicacies. Sea cucumbers are farmed and imported in large numbers in Asia, where their demand as food has fueled a thriving black market. (Find out why smuggling of this ocean creature may skyrocket.)

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Sea Cucumbers, Magical Blobs of the Deep

What is a sea cucumber? It is a rarely known blob that spends it’s days floating in the sea. It is not kept as a pet, well, it can be, but some are poisonous so I would stay away. They have been said to be delicacies in Asia, a “fountain of youth”, and a cure to cancer! If you want to learn more about the magicians of the sea, than read on! (or maybe you are listening to this and have no choice).

Sea cucumbers are weirdly fascinating, and people will never TRULY unlock the secrets of these funny-looking ocean slugs. From a  National Geographic article I learned that they are scientifically called Holothurodiea, and they are echoderms, along with starfish, sea urchins, and sand dollars. There are 1,250 species of sea cucumbers known, and no, none of them are vegetables in the water. They are invertebrates and omnivores, they also have a size range of .75 inches to a whole six-and-a-half feet! Also, they never truly get to embrace their amazingness, because they have no brains!

Also from National Geographic, I learned the eating habits of a blob with no mouth. Sea cucumbers eat algae, microscopic (or nearly microscopic) sea creatures, and waste particles floating around at the bottom of the ocean. They eat with little tubes that are about 8-30 feet long, depending on how big they are and what species they are. They are more prey than predator, and are eaten by most fish and other animals in the ocean. They are also eaten by humans! Seen as a delicacy in parts of Asia, they are also overfished, and sold as very expensive food on the black market.

Sea cucumbers, as I mentioned before, can be poisonous! On CBS news, I found an article that two men have died from eating a sea cucumber that they didn’t know was dangerous. After all, if you are a little lump that can’t move, you have to defend yourself somehow! Other ways sea cucumbers protect themselves is by ensnaring the “threat” with sticky threads that can even suffocate them (National Geographic).One other way is that they can contract all of their muscles and spew toxic guts through their anus (they have to come out somewhere).

In the beginning, I told you something about sea cucumbers being the cure to cancer. Well, on M.D.W. (Marine Drugs Website) I found an article by Dimitry Amnin, Ekaterina Menchiskaya, and others, that said that some sea cucumbers have cells and membranes that can cure human tumors! I also read an article from Daily Mail by Eddie Wrenn that told me that they are also able to make people look younger by being able to change the elasticity of collagen within their bodies. If that could be done in some way on a human, it would make them appear much younger. Now we know that strange blobs that float in the ocean and have no mouths are the “fountain of youth” we were looking for the whole time. Magical, isn’t it?

They are located all around the world, and are even seen off the coast of California, New England, and other parts of the United States. Doing all of this research, I’ve found videos of strange little friends being found off the California Coast in the Pacific, and some in the Red Sea, which is off the coast of Egypt. While sea cucumbers are found all around the world, they are also found all throughout the ocean. They can be spotted in the more shallow areas, sometimes where humans can swim, and also down very deep, close to the sea floor.

I hope you have found a two page essay about ocean slugs interesting, and that every question you’ve ever had about sea cucumbers answered-if you ever had questions. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day.