Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea. They are used as food, in fresh or dried form, in various cuisines. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value. The creature and the food product are commonly known as bêche-de-mer in French, from Portuguese bicho do mar (literally "sea animal"), trepang (or trīpang) in Indonesian, namako in Japanese, balatan in Tagalog, loli in Hawaiian and "deniz patlicani" (sea eggplant) in Turkish . In Malay, it is known as the gamat.