This sea cucumber is chocolate brown or dark grey, sometimes mottled with paler patches or speckled with many small white spots.

Its range includes the West Indies, the southern tip of Florida, the Dry Tortugas and the region of the Campeche Bank and southwards to Colombia and Venezuela.

[5][6] It is found on sandy seabeds near reefs and occasionally in seagrass meadows, at depths ranging between 10 and 30 m (33 and 98 ft).

It is a scavenger and detritivore and ingests large quantities of sediment from which organic matter is extracted as it passes through its gut.

The population trend of Astichopus multifidus is unknown but its range includes some protected areas, and the gathering of sea cucumbers is illegal in Panama, Costa Rica and Venezuela.