LANDFALL AHD ISLAND SURVIVAL 
45 
moved immediately. Actually they are harmless and will 
cause no trouble if eaten. They have acquired a bad name 
because they are about the first spot to spoil. All danger of this 
is avoided by immediate cooking and eating. 
In addition to mollusks and fish, another source of food are 
the holothurians of sea-cucumbers (like fig. 49-G). These ani- 
mals are found on all tropical reefs, and almost everywhere on 
rocky shores. In the Indo-Pacific region, especially on the Aus- 
tralian reefs, they form the basis of an extensive and valuable 
fishery. They are also common in the West Indies. The kinds 
used as food are for the most part roughly cylindrical with a more 
or less corrugated or warty tough skin, usually from a foot to a 
foot and a half long when extended, and about half as long when 
contracted. The Australian commercial variety is even longer. 
The edible portion of a sea-cucumber consists of five long white 
muscles on the inside of the body. These can be stripped off 
and boiled, fried, or eaten raw. 
Still another source of sea food is sea urchins or sea eggs. 
Sea urchins are found on all tropical reefs and along all rocky 
shores and form an important source of food in many regions, 
especially in southern Europe, the West Indies, southern South 
America, parts of the Indo-Pacific region, and the Aleutian 
Islands. They are globular in shape, usually somewhat flat- 
tened, from 2 to 6 inches in diameter and are covered with 
spines (like fig. 4£M3) . The edible portion consists of the masses 
of eggs within their bodies. These eggs usually form five finger- 
like, more or less yellow colored processes on top of the body 
inside the shell. They may be eaten either raw or boiled. 
In temperate and arctic seas all the sea urchins present 
may be handled with impunity. But in the tropical seas there 
570603°-- 44 4 
