Cold-water sea cucumber

Elpidia glacialis

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth470–3,709 m
Water temperature-2–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary and July
How commonRare

About this species

Elpidia glacialis is a species of sea cucumber in the family Elpidiidae. It is found at abyssal depths in the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. It was first described in 1876 by the Swedish zoologist Johan Hjalmar Théel after he had collected specimens while accompanying the explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld on an expedition attempting to find the Northeast Passage.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Elpidia glacialis”, 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: 11 records
February: 20 records
March: 16 records
April: 0 records
May: 0 records
June: 0 records
July: 33 records
August: 14 records
September: 3 records
October: 11 records
November: 1 records
December: 1 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 470–3,709 m · Deepest record: 8,820 m

0–10 m: 10 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 112 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -2–30 °C

-2–0 °C: 29 records
0–2 °C: 23 records
2–4 °C: 10 records
4–6 °C: 10 records
6–8 °C: 15 records
8–10 °C: 23 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 20 records
16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 2 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Cold-water sea cucumber, cold-water sea cucumber

Names in 1 more languages

French: holothurie glaciale

Similar species

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).
208 open-data records from 1878 to 2022.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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