The urchin's mouth is hidden underneath its body at the base of its shell. Sea urchins eat sea plants, such as algae and kelp, but also crunch on the occasional invertebrate or scavenge dead fish. They are coated in cilia, tiny hair-like structures, that wave to create a water current carrying food to the urchin's mouth and washing away waste. They are a favorite snack for sea otters, wolf eels and sunflower sea stars.Ī sea urchin's spines surround its round inner shell, called a test, and rotate on ball-and-socket joints. When a predator approaches, they launch a swarm of the tiny jaws, which clamp down and release toxins.ĭespite their obvious means of defense, sea urchins still have a few predators to watch out for.
The fire urchin has thick clusters of multicolored spines in brick red and dandelion yellow, tipped with venomous blue points.Ĭollector sea urchins-native to the Indo-Pacific, Hawaii and the Red Sea-have projectile pincers. There are purple, blue, chartreuse green, brown, black, white and ochre sea urchins. Some of the ocean's largest grow to nearly 7 inches in diameter with 2-to-3-inch-long spines. It's no wonder that sea urchins, with their spiny exterior, were once nicknamed sea hedgehogs. Others look like pincushions covered with thin, needlelike projections. Copper Rockfish Sea Otter Feeding on Sea Urchin Sea Spiders on Soft Coral Sea. Description: Summaryedit DescriptionAPI English: A wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) eating a sea urching off Maury Island, Washington, U.S.A. Some have thick, pencil-wide spines jutting from their shells. Wolf Eel With Open Mouth Quillback Rockfish Wolf Eel A Pickle of Sea.
0 kommentar(er)
