This sea cucumber has an oval, cylindrical body, flattened somewhat on the underside, and rounded at both ends.

The mouth is on the underside at the front and is surrounded by twenty short, brown, branched feeding tentacles.

The anus is dark brown or black and has no anal teeth, but is surrounded by five white-tipped papillae.

Its range extends from East Africa and the Red Sea to southern Japan, northern Australia and Central America.

The sexes are separate in this species; they climb to an elevated location before releasing their gametes into the water column.

[3] Like other sea cucumbers, the tissues contain saponins which are distasteful and toxic to fish, causing haemolysis of the red blood cells, which can be fatal.