Skip to main content

Kōrero: Starfish, sea urchins and other echinoderms

Common sea cucumber

Common sea cucumber

Only one species of sea cucumber is common around the New Zealand coast. This is Stichopus mollis, or rori. A soft-bodied, sluggish creature, it moves over rocky reefs gathering up sediment and organic debris in its tentacles. Its major defensive action is, remarkably, to expel its digestive organs through its bottom. This would be a fatal action for any other animal, but the sea cucumber can regenerate its internal organs.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

NIWA – National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

by Malcolm Francis

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Maggy Wassilieff, Starfish, sea urchins and other echinoderms – Other echinoderms, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/5203/common-sea-cucumber (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Maggy Wassilieff, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.

Comments

Jasmine
04 April 2011
These creatures are incredible! They spill out their guts so predators can eat that and not them, and they grow internal organs back! haa amaaazing!! They also play dead, so when you hold one it falls limp in your hand, like it is really dead! Good sea creature to do a project on I'd say ;)