Carolyn Place, age 11, of Bennington, Vt., for her question:

WHAT IS A SEA CUCUMBER?

A sea cucumber is a sea animal with a cylinder shaped body that looks like a cucumber. It belongs to a group that includes sea lilies, sea urchins and starfish.

The sea cucumber either lies on the sea bottom or burrows in the sand. Its mouth is at one end of the body and 10 branching tentacles encircle the mouth. The animal can lengthen and shorten these tentacles, which catch food and sweep it into the mouth.

There are five double rows of tube feet on the body. Some sea cucumbers use these feet to crawl.

About 500 species or kinds of sea cucumbers live in the oceans of the world. Those living in tropical water may grow to be two to three feet long. Most sea cucumbers in temperate water grow to be less than one foot long.

Many sea cucumbers are caught in Indonesia where they are dried and sent to Chinese markets as a food called trepang.