# Orange Sea Cucumber (*cucumaria miniata*) The Orange Sea Cucumber is a squishy, colorful creature that lives in the ocean! It helps keep the sea clean by eating waste and dead plants. - **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate) - **Rarity:** Common - **Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger - **Snaps:** 8 - **Habitat:** The Orange Sea Cucumber is found on the ocean floor, usually in shallow waters along rocky or sandy coastlines. - **Also known as:** Cuke, Orange Cuke ![Orange Sea Cucumber](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Cucumaria_main.jpg&width=800) Photo: Cunkel, Attribution · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cucumaria_main.jpg) ## Appearance The Orange Sea Cucumber is a vibrant, chubby creature with a bumpy, leathery body, typically bright orange or reddish-orange. It has a ring of short, bushy tentacles around its mouth, used for feeding, and five rows of tiny tube feet along its body. ## Taxonomy - **Kingdom:** Animalia - **Phylum:** Echinodermata - **Class:** Holothuroidea - **Order:** Dendrochirotida - **Family:** Cucumariidae - **Genus:** Cucumaria ## Interesting facts - Orange Sea Cucumbers can live for many years, sometimes up to five years or more! - Some sea cucumbers can absorb oxygen directly through their skin, not just their 'rear' end! - They use a special 'water vascular system' to move their tube feet, just like starfish! - They use hundreds of tiny 'tube feet' all over their body for moving and sticking! ## Special abilities - **Super Regrowth:** Orange Sea Cucumber can regrow lost body parts and internal organs, making it incredibly resilient. - **Sticky Snatcher:** Orange Sea Cucumber has sticky tentacles around its mouth to grab tiny food particles from the water. - **Shape Shifter:** The Orange Sea Cucumber can change its body shape to wedge into cracks or hide from predators. - **Organ Detach:** When threatened, it can shoot out its sticky internal organs to distract predators, then regrow them. ## Measurements & details - **Length:** 20 cm - **Lifespan:** 5 years - **Tentacle Count:** 10 - **Maximum Depth:** 0-200 m ## Diet & Feeding This creature sweeps up tiny food particles from the ocean floor or water with its sticky tentacles. - **Primary Foods:** detritus, phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae fragments - **Foraging Method:** Filter feeding ## Ecological connections - **Eaten by:** [Sunflower Sea Star](https://www.snappit.app/explore/sunflower-sea-star) (*Pycnopodia helianthoides*) — A large predator of many invertebrates, including sea cucumbers. - **Eaten by:** [Dungeness Crab](https://www.snappit.app/explore/dungeness-crab) (*Cancer magister*) — Crabs may prey on smaller sea cucumbers or those disturbed by currents. - **Eaten by:** Kelp Greenling (*Hexagrammos decagrammus*) — This fish sometimes eats small invertebrates found on the seafloor. ## Traits - [Solitary](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/solitary): Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care. - [Colorful](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/colorful): Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors. - [Decomposer](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/decomposer): Describes organisms that break down dead organic material, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem. - [Aquatic](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/aquatic): Aquatic habitats encompass environments where organisms live predominantly in water, including oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. - [Marine](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/marine): Marine habitats encompass all saltwater environments of the Earth's oceans, supporting an immense diversity of aquatic life. ## Collections - [Invertebrates](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/invertebrates) ## Safety **Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger No special safety notes yet. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How to identify Orange Sea Cucumber? Look for fins, arms, tentacles, shells and body symmetry. Underwater light shifts colors, so structure and markings usually matter more than shade. Sea Creature Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details. ### How long is Orange Sea Cucumber? 20 cm ### How long does Orange Sea Cucumber live? 5 years ### What does Orange Sea Cucumber eat? This creature sweeps up tiny food particles from the ocean floor or water with its sticky tentacles. ### Where is Orange Sea Cucumber usually found? The Orange Sea Cucumber is found on the ocean floor, usually in shallow waters along rocky or sandy coastlines. ### How does Orange Sea Cucumber hunt? Filter feeding ### How many tentacles does Orange Sea Cucumber have? 10 ### How deep can Orange Sea Cucumber go? 0-200 m ## Where to spot - [Discovery Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/discovery-park) — Washington, US · Nature Reserve - [Chinatown-International District](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/chinatown-international-district) — Washington, US · Historic District - [Guard Island Light](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/guard-island-light) — US · Historic District - [Schmitz Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/schmitz-park) — Washington, US · Nature Reserve - [Myrtle Edwards Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/myrtle-edwards-park) — Washington, US · Park [View all places to see Orange Sea Cucumber](https://www.snappit.app/guides/where-to-see/orange-sea-cucumber) ## More Invertebrate - [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral) - [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*) - [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*) - [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*) --- Source: [Orange Sea Cucumber: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/orange-sea-cucumber)