From their bizarre name to their blobby worm shape to the fact that its anus is also a mouth, sea cucumbers are some of the most outlandish things in the ocean. There are more than 1,700 species in the world, each one as otherworldly as the next, most shaped like the titular vegetable (a cucumber), albeit covered in leathery skin and with featuring strange branch-like appendages. It is difficult to imagine that such a creature can even exist, much less be prevalent all over the ocean floor. They're even commonly eaten by humans.
Yet a recent study in the Biodiversity Data Journal, reinforces the idea that sea cucumbers are more than aquatic curiosities; they actually serve an important role in protecting the ocean from human activity.
