Directory of Echinoidea Resources

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The Echinoids consist of the sea urchins and sand dollars, with bodies shaped like globes or discs. Characteristically they have a hard shell and spines. Many are herbivores, feeding on algae, but others are predators. Sea urchins move by their podia or tubular feet and also their movable spines and many burrow. Sand dollars also burrow into soft sediments and may bury themselves completely, digging with their movable spines.

Resources in This Category

• ADW: Class Echinoidea

  http://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Echinoidea.html
  Photographs and information on the heart urchins, sand dollars and sea urchins from the Animal Diversity Web.

• Calcareous Flowers: Tests and Cross-sections of Sea Urchin Spines.

  http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artaug05/rh-seaurchin.html
  Photographic study by Richard Howey with some fine photographs of the intricate beauty of these structures.

• Echinoid Directory

  http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/echinoid-directory/intro/introduction.html
  Biology, phylogeny, and classification of sea urchins.

• Edible Sea Urchin: Echinus esculentus

  http://www.arkive.org/edible-sea-urchin/echinus-esculentus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Loxechinus albus

  http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/3621
  Factsheet from the FAO on the Chilean Sea Urchin which is eaten in Chile and Peru, its distinguishing features, distribution, habitat and biology.

• Purple Sea Urchin: Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

  http://www.arkive.org/purple-sea-urchin/strongylocentrotus-purpuratus/
  Photographs and information from ARKive including classification, status, description, range, habitat, biology, threats and conservation.

• Red Sea Urchin

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_sea_urchin
  Information from Wikipedia on this species, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, including its description, feeding habits, behavior and reproduction.

• Sea Urchin Embryo

  http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mirsky/
  A page from the Laboratory of Embryonic Gene Expression, included here for three beautiful photographs.

• Sea Urchin Embryology

  http://www.stanford.edu/group/Urchin/
  Laboratory modules using sea urchin eggs to explore fertilization and development.

• Sea Urchin: A Stinging but Amazing Animal

  http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjul00/urchin1.html
  Article by Jean-Marie Cavanihac on these animals with many photographs of their development.

• Sea Urchins Revisited

  http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay02/urchin2.html
  Photographic study by Jean-Marie Cavanihac of the sea urchin with some microscopic features of interest to the amateur naturalist.

• Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

  http://digimorph.org/specimens/Strongylocentrotus_purpuratus/
  Photograph and information on the purple sea urchin.

• The Echinoids

  http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/echinoids/
  Information about sea urchins, such as how they live, feed, and reproduce. There is also an alphabetic listing of their taxa. From The Natural History Museum, London.

• Who is in Charge Here?

  http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artdec02/rhcharge.html
  Illustrated article by Richard L. Howey considering how creatures with no brains, such as the sea urchin, react appropriately to their surroundings.

Related Categories

• Home > Science > Biology > Developmental Biology > Model Organisms > Sea Urchin

 

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