The scientific name of the “headless chicken monster” is Enypniastes eximia; meaning the “dreamer sea cucumber”

The “headless chicken monster” is a swimming sea cucumber that kinda looks like a plucked, headless chicken.

The more common name of the headless chicken monster is the swimming sea cucumber because of their ability to swim unlike other sea cucumbers. Swimming sea cucumbers have a special ‘flap’ which they use to ‘lift’ themselves off the seafloor.

The headless chicken monster has a pinkish translucent gelatinous body that reveals the sediment-filled intestine looping around from the mouth (top) to the anus (bottom).

According to NOAA Ocean Explorer, the headless chicken monster spends most of its time on the seafloor, feeding off of surface sediments; using their ability to swim if it wants to get somewhere more quickly or evade a predator.

They have been found around the world with records from the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Atlantic, East Atlantic, New Zealand, and the Southern Ocean (Antarctica).