California Sea Cucumber

Parastichopus californicus

The California sea cucumber, Parastichopus californicus, is found from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California, Mexico in the low inter-tidal zone down to 249 meters. This is the largest sea cucumber on the West Coast, up to 20in (50cm) in length when it is relaxed. When it is feeding this species is mobile, having tube feet on its ventral surface. Twenty tentacles at the anterior end of the body secrete a substance which aids in the capture of detritus and small organisms on sand and rock bottoms. The California sea cucumber is taken commercially in Southeast Alaska and Kodiak, and south along the West Coast. The California sea cucumber is in the Phylum Echinodermata and Family Stichopodidae.

Note: Many species of fish and plants are known by different names in different locations. Where appropriate, we provide the recognised scientific name, but in the case of common names, for the sake of consistency, we have used the common names as they appear in the fishbase.org database as our default name.