Mauve sea cucumbers. Top two photos Elizabeth Charlton, 3rd photo Guido Zsilavecz
A field of orange-chested sea cucumbers, as they are normally found.
Golden sea cucumber, exposed after sand shifted by stormy conditions. Photos Guido Zsilavecz
Divers in tropical waters associate sea cucumbers with large lumbering logs found only here and there. In Cape waters, sea cucumbers are much smaller - the largest growing only up to 12 cm in length, but they do occur in much larger numbers as well. The orange-chested sea cucumber, Pseudocnella insolens covers the tops of rocky reefs further offshore, creating large orange and yellow fields with little else living there. Less colourful, but nearly as prolific in certain areas are the darker mauve sea cucumbers, Pentacta doliolum. The sand-dwelling golden sea cucumber, Thyone aurea is found at the fringes of reefs in areas where sand generally doesn't get moved much, and may form carpets with their outstretched tentacles - the bodies themselves are buried. Only occasionally when a big storm shifts the sand can one see the whole animal.
For more information on sea cucumbers and the local species, see "A field guide to the Marine Animals of the Cape Peninsula", now available from SURG or better Cape Town dive shops.
A field guide to the Marine Animals of the Cape Peninsula, G Jones, 2009.
Two Oceans, A guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.