---
title: Pineapple Sea Cucumber (Thelenota ananas)
scientific_name: Thelenota ananas
common_name: Pineapple Sea Cucumber
taxon: Sea cucumber
conservation_status: EN - Endangered
published: 2026-08-05T23:57:33.656Z
updated: 2026-08-20T17:09:46.019Z
tags: Pineapple Sea Cucumber, Thelenota ananas, Sea cucumber, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/echinoderms/sea-cucumber/pineapple-sea-cucumber
---

# Pineapple Sea Cucumber (*Thelenota ananas*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Sea cucumber (*Holothuroidea*)
- **Size:** up to 100 cm
- **Depth:** 5-30 m
- **Diet:** Detritivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** Sand and rubble slopes below reef
- **CITES:** Appendix II
- **Conservation status:** EN - Endangered

## How to recognise it

- very large orange to reddish body
- star-shaped clusters of papillae over the back
- thick firm body wall
- length up to 100 cm

The largest sea cucumber on these reefs, reaching a meter (39 in) and heavy in proportion, orange to reddish brown, with the back covered in star-shaped clusters of papillae that give the species both its scientific and its common name. Nothing else here approaches that size and texture, so an adult is identifiable at a glance from several meters away.

It lives on sand and rubble slopes below reef, from about 5 m to 30 m (16 to 100 ft), feeding at night and lying still through the day. Size and a thick body wall have made it one of the most sought-after species in the sea cucumber trade, and it has been fished out across much of its range; the IUCN lists it as endangered, trade in the genus has needed CITES permits since 2023, and it is uncommon enough along this coast that many divers with hundreds of dives here have never seen one. Its reproduction makes recovery slow - eggs and sperm are released into open water, so scattered survivors rarely manage successful fertilisation, and a depleted population can stay depleted for many years.

## Also known as

- **English:** Pineapple Sea Cucumber, Prickly Redfish, Pineapplefish
- **Arabic:** Abu mud
- **French:** Concombre de mer épineux, Holothurie ananas
- **Italian:** Cetriolo di mare ananas, Oloturia ananas
- **German:** Ananas-Seewalze
- **Portuguese:** Pepino-do-mar-abacaxi, Subinho
- **Japanese:** バイカナマコ
- **Chinese:** 梅花參
- **Russian:** Голотурия ананасовая
- **BIS:** Paenapolfis
- **FIJ:** Sucudrau
- **HIN:** Ananas attai
- **ID:** Plum flower trepang, Nanas, Pandan
- **MLG:** Dingadinga rasta, Zanga borosy, Rasta
- **SIN:** Annasi attaya
- **SW:** Spinyo mama, Baba
- **TON:** Pulukalia
- **VI:** Hải sâm lựu, Đồn đột lựu, Ñoät ñieàu

## Scientific synonyms

- *Actinopyga formosa* (Selenka, 1867)
- *Holothuria (Holothuria) ananas* Jaeger, 1833
- *Holothuria (Thelenota) grandis* Brandt, 1835
- *Holothuria ananas* Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
- *Holothuria hystrix* Saville-Kent, 1890
- *Muelleria formosa* Selenka, 1867
- *Trepang ananas* Jaeger, 1833

## Range

East Africa, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Madagascar, Republic of Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/echinoderms/sea-cucumber/pineapple-sea-cucumber)*
*Updated: August 20, 2026*