Sea cucumber is a valuable seafood with dozens of species.
Sea cucumber is a rare marine animal and a kind of seafood. They usually have soft bodies, shaped like cucumbers or worms, and live on the sand, mud or rocks at the bottom of the sea. Sea cucumbers are widely consumed in some Asian countries, especially China and Korea, and are believed to have nourishing properties for the body. In cooking, sea cucumbers can be used to make soups, stews or as one of the main ingredients in cooking.
Sea cucumbers are marine molluscs that live at seashores up to 8,000 meters away. They have a history of more than 600 million years. Sea cucumbers feed on seabed algae and plankton. Sea cucumber has soft and tender meat and is rich in nutrients. It is a famous delicacy and one of the "eight delicacies" of seafood. It is as famous as bird's nest, abalone and shark's fin. It often plays the role of "the key to the success" in elegant halls.
There are many types of sea cucumbers, dozens of them, and depending on the processing methods of sea cucumbers, there are fresh sea cucumbers, dried sea cucumbers, ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, etc. The shelf life and storage method of each sea cucumber will have certain differences. Here are some common sea cucumber species:
1. White-bottomed radiata anus : The body is nearly cylindrical and about 30 cm long in life. Distributed in the western Indo-Pacific region, southern Japan and the Paracel Islands, Nansha Islands and southern Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
2. Rough sea cucumber : The individual is large and has many bone fragments on the body surface, so it feels rough to the touch. Distributed in the Indo-Western Pacific region, living on coastal sandy bottoms.
3. Two-spotted nicotiana : fat in body, almost as wide at the front and rear ends, nearly short cylindrical shape, resembling a winter melon. Distributed in China's Xisha, Nansha and Hainan Dazhou Islands, etc., and also in the waters of Japan and the Philippines.
4. Imitation sea cucumber : The body length of imitation sea cucumber is 20-40 cm, and the body is cylindrical. The radial symmetry is not obvious because it is dorsal and ventral in its natural position lying on the seabed. Distributed in Japan, North Korea and the coasts of Shandong, Hebei and Liaoning in China.
5. Black sea cucumber : also known as black dog ginseng, black ginseng, and black strange ginseng. Body length is generally 20 cm. It is produced in large quantities in China's Xisha Islands, Nansha Islands and southern Hainan Island.
6. Black milk ginseng : The body is wide and thick, both ends are blunt and rounded, and the length is generally 30 cm. Distributed in the Indo-Western Pacific region, China is produced in the Paracel Islands and southern Hainan Island.
7. Apostichopus japonicus : The body is nearly cylindrical, slightly square column-shaped, about 30-40 cm long, and the largest one can reach 95 cm. Distributed in the western Indo-Pacific region, China's Beibu Gulf, Xisha Islands, Nansha Islands, Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula and other coastal shallow waters.
8. Green sea cucumber: The body is square and cylindrical, about 30 cm long, and the longest can be 90 cm. Distributed in the western Indo-Pacific, China's Xisha Islands, Nansha Islands and southern Hainan Island.
9. Plum blossom ginseng : also known as pineapple ginseng. The body length is generally 60-75 centimeters, with a maximum length of 1.2 meters, a width of about 10 centimeters, and a height of about 8 centimeters. It is the largest species in the class Holothuria.
10. Snakehead White Ginseng: Fat, nearly short cylindrical shape, about 30-50 cm in length. Distributed in the Xisha and Nansha Islands and other waters.
11. Black wrinkled radiate anal ginseng: common name is black ginseng and black wrinkled ginseng . Distributed in the Red Sea, Mozambique and other places, it mostly lives in coral reefs. The water depth ranges from the intertidal zone to 10m and reaches a maximum depth of 30m.
12. Yuzu sea cucumber: The body is cylindrical, and the rear part is often thicker. The length is generally 20 cm. They mostly live on coral reefs in the intertidal zone or in puddles with many piles of rocks. They have a "hibernation" phenomenon and are distributed along the coasts of China's Paracel Islands, Hainan Island, Guangdong and Dongshan in Fujian.
These are only a small number of species of sea cucumbers. In fact, there are many other species of sea cucumbers, which differ in appearance, color, distribution area and ecological habits. The taste, nutritional content and cooking methods of each type of sea cucumber may also vary.