Marine biology -- Great Britain; Seashore; Seashore biology
1. Asterias rubens
2. Goniaster equestris
3. Ophiothrix fragilis
4. Echinocardium cordatum
5. Echinus miliaris
6. Echinus esculentus]
The habits of sea urchins are interesting, and may be watched in the
aquarium, where the movements of the spines and of the tube-feet may
be seen perfectly. Some species are very inactive, living in holes and
crevices, or under stones, and seldom move from their hiding-places,
while others travel considerable distances. The former have generally no
eyes, and, instead of seeking their food, simply depend for their
subsistence on the material carried to them by the movements of the
water; while the latter possess visual organs similar to those observed
in certain starfishes. Some species also protect themselves from their
enemies when in the open by covering their bodies with sand, small
stones, shells, or weeds, and thus so perfectly imitate their
surroundings that they are not easily detected. The feet that are used
for purposes of locomotion terminate in suckers resembling those of the
common five-fingered starfish, and have considerable clinging power, but
some have either very imperfectly developed suckers or none at all, and
are probably used as feelers only.
Sea urchins, like their allies the starfishes, generally inhabit deep
water beyond low-water mark, where they often exist in enormous numbers,
feeding on both animal and vegetable substances; but some species are
often to be met with between the tide-marks, where they may be seen
under stones, and frequently half hidden in mud. The globular species
occur principally on rocky coasts, but the heart urchins are more
commonly dredged from banks of sand or mud that are always submerged.
The life-history of urchins closely resembles that of starfishes, for
the young are free-swimming creatures of an easel-like form, and during
this early larval existence their bodies are supported by a calcareous
skeleton.
We will conclude our short account of the British echinoderms with a
description of the peculiar Sea Cucumbers, which belong to the division
_Holothuroidea_. These creatures are so unlike starfishes and urchins in
general appearance that the uninitiated would hardly regard them as
close relatives. The body is, as the popular name implies,
cucumber-shaped, with the mouth at one end, and the general aspect is
wormlike. There is, however, a radiate symmetry--a five-fold arrangement
of parts, though not so regular as in most echinoderms. Running
lengthwise along the body are five rows of tube-feet, but only two of
these are well developed and terminate in functional suckers; and, as
might be expected, the animal crawls with these two rows beneath it. The
feet are outgrowths of a system of water tubes similar to that of the
urchin, there being a circular tube round the mouth, from which branch
five radial tubes, one for each row.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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