talking points for nature guides
echinoderms text index | photo index
Phylum Echinodermata > Class Holothuroidea
Photo index of sea cucumbers on Singapore shores
short sea cucumbers <10cm

size given is for sea cucumber's length when relaxed

Tiny red
sea cucumbers

Family Cucumariidae

Little African
sea cucumber

Afrocucumis africana

Armoured
sea cucumber

Psolidium sp.
 
1cm or shorter. Usually in groups of many individuals, sometimes thickly carpeting a few square metres. Coral rubble areas. Common at Chek Jawa and Tuas. 3-8cm. Body angular with short tube feet in rows used to cling to stone as well as to hold debris over its body. Plain purple with long tube feet. Under stones. Sometimes seen on some of our shores. 1-2cm. Body hard, sausage shaped, flat base, mouth and anus on conical protrusions. Limpet-like, it clamps tightly onto a hard surface. Rocky shores and artificial surfaces. Sometimes seen on some of our shores. 5-10cm. Long, thin and orm-like. Usually draped in groups on sponges and ascidians. Purple, pink, maroon, white, grey. Often seen on our Northern shores.  

Thorny
sea cucumber

Colochirus quandrangularis

Pink warty
sea cucumber

Cercodemas anceps

Orange
sea cucumber

Mensamaria intercedens

Purple
sea cucumber

awaiting identification
 
6-10cm. Body angular with distinct upper and underside. Soft thorny red projections on upper side, flat underside with three rows of tiny tube feet.. Red, pink sometimes with tinges of green or grey. In seagrass areas. Common on our Northern shores. 6-8cm. Body angular with distinct upper and underside. Pink warty bumps on a yellow body, flat underside with three rows of tiny tube feet. In seagrass areas. Common on our Northern shores. 8-12cm. Body angular with long tube feet in rows along the length. Mostly orange sometimes with blue stripes lacking tube feet. In coral rubble areas. Sometimes seen on some of our Northern shores. 8-10cm. Body angular with long tube feet in rows along the length. Uniformly purple or lilac. In seagrasses, coral rubble. Sometimes seen on our Northern shores.  

Beige
sea cucumber

Holothuria albiventer

Polka-dotted
sea cucumber

Bohadschia ocellata

Kumquat
sea cucumber

Actinopyga sp.

Plasticky
sea cucumber

Cladolabes hamatus
 
6-12cm. Body angular with tube feet in rows along the length. Beige, white pinkish. In seagrasses. Sometimes seen on our Northern shores. 6-8cm long. Body cylindrical but with a flat underside. Dark circles around short pale conical bumps. Pale lilac to white, patterns purplish. In seagrasses. Sometimes seen on Changi. About 8cm long. Body oval with a smooth skin and scattered slender tube feet. Near living reefs. Seen once on Pulau Semakau. 6-12cm long. Body rounded, hard and stiff, smooth. Pale bluish or greyish with irregular darker blotchy lines. Lots of short stiff conical smooth tube feet with bright orange tips. Sometimes seen half buried on our Northern shores.  

These are NOT sea cucumbers

Peanut worm
Phylum Spincula

Acorn worm
Phylum Hemichordata
Class Enteropneusta

Sea anemone
Phylum Cnidaria

Flower sea pen
Phylum Cnidaria

Peacock anemone
Phylum Cnidaria

how to tell apart



photo index of
echinoderms on this site
Phylum Echinodermata
all echinoderms

With arms

  many, feathery
feather stars

five, bristley
brittle stars

sea stars
small <10cm
large >10cm

Hard
  flat, coin-like
sand dollars

spherical, spiny
sea urchins
heart urchins

Soft

  sea cucumbers
short <10cm
long >10cm
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