A slender, worm-like sea cucumber that stretches to about 1.5 m (5 ft) yet is barely thicker than a thumb, pale and translucent with five rows of small knobs and dark lines running between them. There are no tube feet at all - this is one of the footless sea cucumbers - and a ring of feathery tentacles fans out at the head end to mop food from the bottom.
It hides by day and emerges after dark, flowing over rubble and sand near reef, extending and contracting so freely that its apparent length changes minute by minute. The surface feels distinctly sticky: the skin is studded with microscopic anchor-shaped ossicles that catch on skin and gloves, and a startled animal may break in two rather than pull free. Both are reasons to look and not touch, since a body wall this thin tears easily. It is a regular find on night dives over sandy ground, and the combination of great length, feathery tentacles and complete absence of tube feet leaves nothing else it can be confused with here.
- long worm-like body, no tube feet
- ring of feathery tentacles at the head end
- five rows of knobs with dark lines between them
- surface sticky to the touch
