Echinarachnius parma (Lamarck, 1816)
Sand Dollar
CLASSIFICATION
Main Group: Animal
Sublevel 1: Non-chordate Invertebrate
Sublevel 2: Invertebrate with bilateral symmetry
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Clypeasteroida
Family: Echinarachniidae
Genus: Echinarachnius
Species: Echinarachnius parma
STATUS IN NEW ENGLAND
Origin: Native
Invasive, Pest, or Pathogen?: No
Rarity Designations:
RI WAP (2015) - SGCN
BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY
Feeding Type: Heterotroph
HABITAT
PHOTOS OF Echinarachnius parma
Sand dollar test (skeleton) (left) and an apparently dead sand dollar (right)
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Underside of apparently dead sand dollar
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Live sand dollar, top side (aboral side)
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Live sand dollar, top side (aboral side).
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Live sand dollar, top side (aboral side). The anus (not visible in photo) is located in a notch along the lateral margin of the body.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Underside (oral side) of live sand dollar. The mouth is visible in the center.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
View of mouth on live sand dollar.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Sand dollar test, top side (aboral side). In the center are four tiny pores (gonopores) through which sperm or eggs are released into the water column.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2017-01-11
Zoomed in view of the four gonopores on a test.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2018-01-11
Zoomed in view of the four gonopores on a test.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2017-01-11
Underside (oral side) of sand dollar test. The hole in the center is the mouth.
Essex County, MA
Date: 2017-01-11