Sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) eject parts of the gut in order to scare and defend against potential predators such as crabs and fish.
Water from the respiratory tree is forced into these tubules causing a rapid expansion and they elongate by up to 20 times their original length.
[2] The tubules contain a toxic saponin called holothurin, which is also present in the body wall in some sea cucumber species.
[5] The giant California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) will often eviscerate due to rough handling, temperature shock, or other stressful treatments.
[7] Evisceration plays a role in the Theodore Sturgeon short story "The Girl Had Guts" (Venture Science Fiction, January 1957; also appears in his collection "A Touch of Strange").