Orange Sea Cucumber

At a glance

Orange Sea Cucumber (Cucumaria miniata) is an echinoderm present across the CatchRules coverage area but without species-specific bag, size, or season rules tracked in our regulatory dataset.

Confirmed by 7,631 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Washington, British Columbia, and California the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• When threatened, orange sea cucumbers can expel their internal organs as a decoy—and fully regenerate them afterward.
• They feed by extending 10 sticky, branching tentacles to capture drifting plankton from the water column.
• Their vivid orange color comes from carotenoid pigments concentrated throughout their body wall.
• Found from Alaska to Baja California, they anchor in rocky crevices in the low intertidal and subtidal zone.
• Adults typically reach about 10 cm (4 inches) in length.

Where Orange Sea Cucumber are seen

• Washington3,374 iNat obs
• British Columbia3,151 iNat obs
• California593 iNat obs
• Alaska356 iNat obs
• Oregon157 iNat obs

Background

Cucumaria miniata is commonly known as the orange sea cucumber or red sea cucumber due to its striking color. This northeast Pacific species is often found wedged in between rocks or crevices at the coast or on docks and can generally be identified by its orange bushy tentacles protruding above the substrate.

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Orange Sea Cucumber article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other starfish/urchins/cucumbers on CatchRules

• Ochre Sea StarPisaster ochraceus
• Mottled StarEvasterias troschelii