When harvested for subsistence use the intestines of S. variegatus are eaten raw on the spot, or squeezed into a bottle to be taken home and eaten. In some places the bottled intestines may be sold locally. The taste is rich, slightly metallic, with a strong but pleasant aftertaste, similar to raw oysters, and is often enjoyed with a little lime juice. In some sea cucumbers the ability for local, softening of the connective tissue enables them to forcibly eject parts of their internal organs or body in response to attack. If the animal is returned to the water immediately this disintegration is reversed.
All echinoderms are able to regenerate arms, visceral and gonadal tissue.
Aspidochirote and dendrochirote holothurians are known to eviscerate in response to rough handling, probably as a diversion to predators. Depending on the species, the anterior or posterior end of the animal ruptures and parts of the gut and associated organs are expelled. S. variegatus , or ngimes , in Palau are collected during the morning low tide before the animals have eaten and when the intestines are clean and free of sand. The body is then thrown back in the water to regenerate. Figure 1 .