What is Sea Cucumber / Gamat?

What is Sea Cucumber / Gamat?

• Sea cucumbers (Class Holothurians) are cylinder-shaped invertebrate animals that live in the sea.
• These nocturnal animals have a life span of about 5 to 10 years. It is estimated there is about 1100 sea cucumber species in the world but only 40 species is found in Malaysian waters.
• Gamat is available in various shapes and colors, black, white, brown, stripe, etc. The highest therapeutic value and most nutritious species is the golden yellow in color- known as the Golden Sea Cucumber or Stichopus hermanii.
• It is active at night and one needs to dive down 60-70 feet to get it. Its size is as big as a human palm and can vary accordingly to the place and sea level. The biggest gamat is about one foot long.
• They have a notable power of self-mutilation as a defense mechanism. When bothered, sea cucumbers can expel the exterior part of their viscera through a violent muscular contraction that can break the wall of the body. The lost parts regenerate rapidly.
• More amazingly, it can afford to live after being cut and thrown back into the sea. A gamat cut into two, thrown into the sea will become two gamats.
• Gamat has good therapeutic value, thus it's potential to be commercialized in the field of modern treatment and cosmetics. There are many gamat products available in the market such as, "ibu gamat water", "dry ibu gamat", "gamat oil", "gamat powder", "gamat balm", etc. Because of its unpleasant smell and salty taste, many customers are reluctant to drink or eat it.