According to the data, there are about 1100 kinds of sea cucumbers in the world, and about 120 kinds in our country, the vast majority of which are not edible. According to statistics, there are 40 kinds of edible sea cucumbers in the world. China's edible sea cucumbers account for half of them, amounting to 20 kinds.

The sea cucumber is classified into two categories, namely, the "spiny sea cucumber" and the "light sea cucumber" according to whether it has conical spiny warty feet on the back of the sea cucumber. The "Spiny Cucumbers" are mainly from the family of Spiny Cucumber, while the "Light Cucumbers" are mainly from the families of Sea Cucumber, Melon Cucumber and Taro Cucumber.

1. Spiny ginsengs: Spiny ginseng family

The Spiny ginseng family includes imitation ginsengs, plum ginsengs, green ginsengs and flower ginsengs.

The imitation ginseng is also known as gray ginseng, prickly ginseng, gray ginseng, sea rat, or in people's common language, prickly ginseng. Its body length is 20-40 centimeters, the body is cylindrical, the back elevated with 4-6 rows of conical spines of varying sizes, irregularly arranged (known as warty feet); the ventral surface is flat, the tube feet are dense, arranged in irregular 3 rows of longitudinal bands for adsorption of the rocky reefs or creeping and crawling. Mouth located anteriorly, offset from the ventral surface, with 20 frieze-like tentacles, anus offset from the dorsal surface; skin viscid-smooth, well-muscled, body can be extended or curled. Body size, color and the number of thorns often vary with the living environment, preferring to live in slow and steady current, no fresh water injection, algae-rich fine sandy seabed and rocky reef bottom, day and night; summer hibernation in summer when the water temperature is high; the environment is not suitable when there is a phenomenon of dirty discharge; regenerative capacity is very strong, can regenerate after injury or being cut. Spiny ginseng is distributed in the coast of Shandong, Liaoning and Hebei in China, mainly produced in Weihai, Yantai, Dalian, Changshan Island, etc. The fishing period is from November to June every year, especially in June and December, the fishing volume is the largest, and July-September is the summer hibernation season of spiny ginseng. It is the best quality sea cucumber with thick and soft body wall, and is known as "the crown of ginseng".

The plum ginseng is also called pineapple ginseng. Its body length is generally 60-75 centimeters, and the longest one can reach 1.2 meters, with a width of about 10 centimeters and a height of about 8 centimeters, which is the largest one in the sea cucumber family. The spines on the back are very large, and the bases of every 3-11 spines are connected in the shape of plum blossoms, so it is called "Plum Blossom Cucumber"; it is also called "Pineapple Cucumber" because its body shape resembles a pineapple. The bone fragments in the skin are very simple, one is tiny, overlapping and dense granular body; the other is slender and branched 2-3 times, irregular X-shaped body. Body coloration when living is brilliant, dorsally orange-yellow or orange-red with scattered yellow and brown spots; ventral surface ruddy; tentacles yellow. Inhabits the coral sandy bottom at a depth of 3-10 meters; it is distributed in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, and is mainly produced in the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. It has a large body, thick flesh and good quality, and is one of the best edible sea cucumbers in the South China Sea.

The green ginseng is also known as square column ginseng and square ginseng; the flower ginseng is also known as yellow flesh ginseng, white ginseng and square ginseng, which are very common edible sea cucumbers in the South China Sea, with higher production and too soft and tender.

2. Light Cucumber: Sea Cucumber Family

The Sea Cucumber Family includes nine kinds of sea cucumbers, which is the family with the largest number of varieties:

The White Cucumber with Patterns is also known as the White Gua Cucumber, White Milk Cucumber, and White Spotted Cucumber, etc. It has a fat body and is also called the White Cucumber. It is fat, almost as wide as the front and back ends, resembling a winter melon, and its body color changes a lot when it lives, with the bottom white or light yellow; the back is slightly light yellowish brown, and there is a russet horizontal spot in front and back, so it is called "two-spotted ginseng". It is a large edible sea cucumber with thick and tender meat.

Serpentine ginseng is also known as tigerfish, leopard fish, spotted fish, etc. It is dark gray on the back, with a dark brownish color. It is dark gray on the back, with yellow snakes eye-like markings, arranged in irregular longitudinal rows, living in tropical coral reefs with a few seagrasses on the sandy bottom, at a depth of 6-18 meters, the meat is fat and tender.

Spoked-anus ginseng, also known as stone ginseng, cucumber ginseng, etc.; white-bottomed spoked-anus ginseng, also known as boot ginseng, red melon ginseng, etc.; Wu wrinkled spoked-anus ginseng, also known as Wu ginseng, these three kinds of sea cucumbers are a kind of large-scale edible sea cucumbers living in the waters of the Paracel Islands and the Nansha Islands, which are of better quality, but with a lower yield.

Also, there are black sea cucumber, jade foot sea cucumber, black milk cucumber and brown sea cucumber, all of which are common edible sea cucumbers in the South China Sea with inferior quality.

3. Light Cucumber: Melon Cucumber Family

The Melon Cucumber Family consists of three kinds of cucumbers, namely, Square Pillar Pentagonal Melon Cucumber, Naked Pentagonal Melon Cucumber, and Tumor Pentagonal Melon Cucumber, which are all of poorer quality because of their hard body wall.

4. Light ginseng: taro ginseng family

The taro ginseng family includes two kinds of sea cucumber and sea mallet:

Sea cucumber is also known as eggplant, sea eggplant, the body shape and color is very similar to the sweet potato, so this kind of sea cucumber is called "sea cucumber". The body is fusiform, generally 4-12 centimeters long. When living, the body is flesh red, the body wall is very thin, translucent, after drying, the back is brownish black, the abdomen is light brown. The quality is poor, but the price is low, many restaurants use this to make sea cucumber recipes, borrowing from people who are not familiar with sea cucumbers, to enhance the grade of the dishes and confuse the public.

Sea mallet, also known as sea rat, has a smooth body surface, no tube feet or thorns, the body is grayish brown or yellowish brown when it lives, the body wall is very thin and translucent, and it can slightly see through its longitudinal muscles and internal organs, and its food value is very low.

The origin of sea cucumber:

Broadly speaking, sea cucumbers are produced in both the northern and southern waters of China, but they are located in the north and the south, and the categories are different. The further south you go, the more varieties of sea cucumbers there are; the further north you go, the better the quality of sea cucumbers. As far as sea cucumber is concerned, it is mainly produced in the Yellow Bohai Sea. In addition, China's eastern Jilin Province, the sea north of the mouth of the Tumen River to the Russian sea cucumber in the vicinity of Wei, is also an important production area in the past.

Sea cucumber characteristics:High ash content.