Any of 25–30 species of edible sea cucumber, including Holothuria, Stichopus, and Thelonota, which are trapped off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Queensland, Australia.

First boiled and then dried in the sun and smoked, bêche-de-mer are used in gelatinous soups in Chinese cookery, and are considered a great delicacy.

Classification
The beche-de-mer is in class Holothuroidea in phylum Echinodermata.