Habitat: Seagrass beds, mangroves, lagoons, reef hard bottoms and sand plains, and rock terraces Distribution: Caribbean Natural History Notes: H. mexicana shows little or no response to disturbance and little cryptic behavior. Individuals generally move less than one meter per day and are mostly solitary. The species occasionally co-occurs with H. floridana and hybridization is not uncommon. Depth: 0.5-20m, most common 2-10m Characteristics: The cucumber grows up to 30-50 cm. The body is thick-walled and rigid, and appears pleated due to a wrinkling of the dorsal and lateral integument. The dorsal surface is usually dark gray, brown, or black in adults and brownish yellow in young individuals. The ventral surface is usually reddish pink, yellowish orange, or white. There is often a bright pink or red pigment stripe running along the midline and bordered on either side by white stripes. The tube feet are brown with darker brown or black tips.