California sea cucumber

Apostichopus californicus

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth8–21 m
Water temperature7–21 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonCommon

About this species

The California sea cucumber, also known as the giant California sea cucumber, is a sea cucumber that can be found from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. It is found from the low intertidal zone to a depth of 250 m (820 ft). They are most abundant in areas with moderate current with cobbles, boulders or bedrock. They are artisanally fished.

Text from the Wikipedia article “California sea cucumber”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 189 records
February: 252 records
March: 230 records
April: 207 records
May: 383 records
June: 782 records
July: 1,626 records
August: 777 records
September: 581 records
October: 423 records
November: 18,543 records
December: 114 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 8–21 m · Deepest record: 5,641 m

0–10 m: 3,525 records
10–20 m: 14,935 records
20–30 m: 3,909 records
30–40 m: 247 records
40–50 m: 49 records
50–60 m: 53 records
60–70 m: 36 records
70–80 m: 32 records
80–90 m: 23 records
90–100 m: 24 records
100–110 m: 21 records
110+ m: 86 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–21 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 18 records
10–12 °C: 190 records
12–14 °C: 496 records
14–16 °C: 87 records
16–18 °C: 43 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: California sea cucumber, giant California sea cucumber, Giant Red Sea Cucumber, Giant Sea Cucumber

Names in 1 more languages

French: holothurie de Californie

Other scientific names: Holothuria californica, Parastichopus californicus, Stichopus californicus

Similar species

Japanese sea cucumber
Apostichopus japonicus
Japanese Red Ginseng
Apostichopus nigripunctatus
Australasian Brown Sea Cucumber
Australostichopus mollis
Greenfish
Stichopus chloronotus
Dragonfish
Stichopus horrens
Pineapplefish
Thelenota ananas

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
25,149 open-data records from 1882 to 2026.

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