Accoding to the English Wikipedia, the malay word gamat means, the sea cucumber (also known as trepang, bêche-de-mer, balate, or ambiguously, sea slug). It is an echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor worldwide. It is also named because of its cucumber-like shape. The body contains a single, branched gonad. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, calcified structures that are usually reduced to isolated microscopic ossicles (or sclerietes) joined by connective tissue. These can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species (Order Elasipodida, family Pelagothuriidae), the skeleton is often absent .
Gamat also refers to medicinal remedies made from any of several species of the animal. The golden sea cucumber (Stichopus horrens) is commonly used. Gamat is usually the dried, powdered bodies of sea cucumbers made into a lotion or other topical salve. It is sometimes mixed into clay and applied as a facial mask, or put in tea and consumed for stomach complaints. Users believe that a solution of sea cucumbers can heal cuts, skin eruptions, and ulcers, and claim that it has a beneficial effect on the immune system.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Echinozoa
Class: Holothuroidea
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