Sand dollars
Echinodermata – Echinoidea
Distribution:
These are actually the dried out skeleton of a flat sea urchin species. When alive they have many dark purple spines as well as small hairs. They use these spines as a defense against predators. If threatened they can bury themselves into the sand. Like a sea star, their mouth is underneath their body, they use their spines to move food to their mouth.
Did you know?
You can tell the age of a sand dollar by counting its growth rings. They can live for 6-7 years.
In This Section
- Chordates – Animals with backbones
- Invertebrates – Animals without backbones
- Abalone
- Acorn barnacle
- Baler shell
- Blue button sea jelly
- Bluebottle
- Bryozoan
- Bubbler crabs and sand balls
- Chiton
- Cone shell
- Coral
- Cowry shell
- Crab
- Cuttlebone
- Goose barnacle
- Hermit crabs
- Horned ghost crab (Manburr)
- Limpet
- Mud crab
- Mussel
- Periwinkle
- Pipi
- Ram’s horn shell
- Razor clam
- Sand dollars
- Scallop
- Sea hare
- Sea hares
- Sea jelly
- Sea star
- Sea urchin
- Silver-lip pearl oyster
- Sponge
- Tube worm
- Turban snail
- Violet snail
- Marine Pests
- Seagrasses and Algae
- Unusual Finds