A firm-bodied sea cucumber with rows of blunt papillae along the back, on sand and rubble.
To about 45 cm, averaging 21. The mark is three coarse rows of distinct dark warts along the back. The ground colour runs white through orange to brown, sometimes with large brown patches, and about twenty large tentacles ring the mouth.
Those three wart rows separate it from the donkey dung sea cucumber.
Nought to fifty-five metres on sand, mud, rock and weed.
Its colour variation is extreme and has caused published taxonomic confusion, so colour should be recorded as a note rather than used as a diagnosis. It is listed as Endangered, driven by illegal fishing and trafficking for Asian markets.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.