boiled, dried, and smoked flesh of sea cucumbers (sea cucumber) (phylum Echinodermata) used to make soups. Most bêche-de-mer comes from the southwestern Pacific, where the animals (any of a dozen species of the genera Holothuria, Stichopus, and Thelonota) are obtained on coral reefs. Bêche-de-mer is consumed chiefly in China.

Bêche-de-mer, or Beach-la-Mar, is a pidgin English term used in New Guinea and nearby islands, where the trepang trade has long been important. The term Bêche-de-Mer has also come to designate the pidgin English language spoken in these regions.