About 40 species of commercial sea cucumbers are
harvested throughout the world’s oceans (Conand
2004). Once on the international market, the dried
(processed) form of some species can be almost impossible
to distinguish from others (Conand 2004).
Sea cucumber taxonomy is based on anatomical
features, such as the shapes and combination of microscopic
spicules that are the skeletal components
in the body wall of all sea cucumbers. These
spicules can take widely different shapes, such as
rosettes, C-shaped rods, buttons, and plates (Fig. 1)
(Hickman 1998).
The sea cucumber Isosti