Rat-tailed fusiform sea cucumber

Paracaudina chilensis

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–483 m
Water temperature-2–28 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and December
How commonRare

All species

Photo credit: (c) Lee Cain, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 34 records
February: 28 records
March: 27 records
April: 42 records
May: 38 records
June: 18 records
July: 13 records
August: 23 records
September: 29 records
October: 17 records
November: 10 records
December: 46 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–483 m · Deepest record: 1,006 m

0–10 m: 80 records
10–20 m: 58 records
20–30 m: 8 records
30–40 m: 7 records
40–50 m: 14 records
50–60 m: 5 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 3 records
100–110 m: 5 records
110+ m: 89 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -2–28 °C

-2–0 °C: 1 records
0–2 °C: 0 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 1 records
6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 13 records
10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 68 records
14–16 °C: 171 records
16–18 °C: 19 records
18–20 °C: 4 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Matt Muir, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Erin McKittrick, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) benholloway, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Rat-tailed fusiform sea cucumber, rat-tailed fusiform sea cucumber, Rattail Sea Cucumber, Sand Sea Cucumber

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Erizo corazón
French: holothurie à queue de rat
Japanese: シロナマコ
Korean: 흰해삼

Other scientific names: Caudina caudata, Caudina chilensis, Caudina contractacauda, Caudina pigmentosa, Caudina Ransonnetti, Caudina rugosa, Microdactyla caudata, Molpadia chilensis

Similar species

Paracaudina alta
Australian Sea Cucumber
Paracaudina australis
Paracaudina bacillis
Paracaudina coriacea
Paracaudina cuprea
Paracaudina keablei

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
335 open-data records from 1894 to 2020.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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