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Sea urchins or urchins (/ ˈ ɜːr tʃ ɪ n z /) are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft; 2,700 fathoms). [ 1 ]
Sand dollars (also known as sea cookies or snapper biscuits in New Zealand and Brazil, or pansy shells in South Africa) are species of flat, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida. Some species within the order, not quite as flat, are known as sea biscuits. Sand dollars can also be called "sand cakes" or "cake urchins". [2]
Diadema antillarum, also known as the lime urchin, black sea urchin, or the long-spined sea urchin, [2] is a species of sea urchin in the family Diadematidae. This sea urchin is characterized by its exceptionally long black spines. It is the most abundant and important herbivore on the coral reefs of the western Atlantic and Caribbean basin.
Sea urchins are primarily marine grazers and tend to eat the algae in closest proximity to them. Thus, several species live a rather sedentary lifestyle. [3] However, Heterocentrotus mammillatus appears to be somewhat active in comparison to other urchins, like Echinothrix calamaris, Echinometra mathaei, and Echinometra oblonga.
The green sea urchin occurs in tropical waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. The subspecies occupy different geographical areas. L. v. variegatus occurs in the Caribbean Sea, southern Florida, the Yucatán peninsula and northern Brazil but not Barbados while L. v. carolinus is found from North Carolina southwards to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
For marine scientists, it was deja vu: Another die-off swept through the region in the 1980s and slashed sea urchin populations by around 98%. Mystery solved: Scientists ID Caribbean sea urchin killer
The average adult size is around 50 mm (2 in), but it has been recorded at a diameter of 87 mm (3.4 in). The green sea urchin prefers to eat seaweeds but will eat other organisms. They are eaten by a variety of predators, including sea stars, crabs, large fish, mammals, birds, and humans.
Keyhole sand dollar refers to five living species of sand dollars in the genus Mellita, plus the extinct †Mellita aclinensis.They are found on the Atlantic coasts of the Americas, ranging across the Caribbean Islands (e.g. Bermuda, Jamaica and Puerto Rico), from the southern United States at the north, to the southeastern coast of Brazil at the south.