Clypeaster rosaceus | |
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Test from Bahamas | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Echinoidea |
Order: | Clypeasteroida |
Family: | Clypeasteridae |
Genus: | Clypeaster |
Species: | C. rosaceus |
Binomial name | |
Clypeaster rosaceus | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Clypeaster rosaceus, the fat sea biscuit, [2] is a species of sea urchin in the family Clypeasteridae. It occurs in shallow water in the western Atlantic Ocean and was first scientifically described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus.
This is a very large sea biscuit with a strong inflated test, growing to a maximum length of around 200 mm (8 in). In shape it is ovate to slightly pentagonal, with the margin thicker at the anterior end. The petaloid area is broad, the anterior (front) petal being longer than the two posterior, paired petals, which are all of equal length; the area between the pores is wide and raised above the rest of the aboral (upper) surface. The oral (under) surface is fairly flat, with a deep depression around the mouth, and with deeply indented food grooves. The anus is on the oral surface near the posterior margin. The spines are short and coarse. When alive, this species is a dark brown colour, while the bare test is whitish. [3]
The species is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from South Carolina to the West Indies, Barbados, Texas and Venezuela. It is found on soft sandy bottoms, particularly in seagrass meadows, from the littoral zone down to about 50 m (160 ft). [3]
C. rosaceus lives on the surface of sandy seabeds and is nocturnal. It feeds on fragments of dead plant material and algae particularly among seagrass plants. In the process of feeding it grinds up sand particles with its Aristotle's lantern mouthparts, and it has been estimated that it reduces 5.5 kg (12.1 lb) of coarse particles of sediment into fine particles in the course of a year. During the daytime it is inactive and buries itself or covers its test with fragments of shell and pieces of seagrass, holding these in place with its tube feet. [2] [3]
In Panama, breeding takes place annually in the rainy season, with spawn being liberated into the sea. The eggs contain much yolk to sustain the developing larvae, which settle on the seabed and undergo metamorphosis after about six days. [2]
Sand dollars are species of flat, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida. Some species within the order, not quite as flat, are known as sea biscuits. Sand dollars can also be called "sand cakes" or "cake urchins".
Calappa hepatica, the reef box crab, is a common benthic species of box crab of tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Red Sea.
Meoma ventricosa, known by the common names cake urchin and red heart urchin, is a large species of sea urchin which lives in shallow waters in the Caribbean. It may reach a diameter of twenty centimeters and is covered in reddish-brown spines. It has both pentagonal radial symmetry and bilateral symmetry, giving it a sand-dollar appearance; however, two of its five sections are merged more closely than the others.
The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brownish in color, and sometimes violet; specimens found in deeper waters are pale. The common starfish is found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on mollusks and other benthic invertebrates.
Lytechinus variegatus, commonly called the green sea urchin or the variegated sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin that can be found in the warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Dendraster excentricus, also known as the eccentric sand dollar, sea-cake, biscuit-urchin, western sand dollar, or Pacific sand dollar, is a species of sand dollar in the family Dendrasteridae. It is a flattened, burrowing sea urchin found in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California.
Oreaster reticulatus, commonly known as the red cushion sea star or the West Indian sea star, is a species of marine invertebrate, a starfish in the family Oreasteridae. It is found in shallow water in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Cyrtopleura costata, or the angel wing clam, is a bivalve mollusc in the family Pholadidae. It is found in shallow parts of the northwest Atlantic and also in the North Sea of Scotland coastline and west coast of the Adriatic Sea by a remote area in the Marche region in central Italy, living in the seabed, where it digs its burrows on a very slow revolving movement for years through soft sand and mud always to a max depth of 8ft but always below 3 feet (0.91 m) at the lowest tide.
Clypeaster, common name "cake urchins" or "sea biscuits", is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Clypeasteridae.
Phormosoma placenta is a species of sea urchin in the order Echinothurioida. It is a deepwater species, seldom being found at depths less than 500 m (1,600 ft), and occurs on either side of the Atlantic Ocean on the continental slope.
Astropecten duplicatus, the two-spined sea star, is a starfish in the family Astropectinidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Irregularia is an extant infraclass of sea urchins that first appeared in the Lower Jurassic.
Clypeaster reticulatus, the reticulated sea biscuit, is a species of sea urchin in the family Clypeasteridae. This species was first scientifically described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. It lives on the sandy seabed of shallow seas, semi-immersed in the sediment.
Clypeaster humilis is a species of sea urchin in the family Clypeasteridae. This species was first scientifically described in 1778 by the German biologist Nathanael Gottfried Leske. It occurs in the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Clypeaster japonicus, the Japanese sea biscuit, is a species of sea urchin in the family Clypeasteridae. This species was first scientifically described in 1885 by the German zoologist Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Döderlein.
Leodia sexiesperforata, commonly known as the six-holed keyhole urchin, is a species of sand dollar, in the echinoderm order Clypeasteroida. It is native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the western Atlantic Ocean where it buries itself in soft sediment in shallow seas.
Paraleptopentacta elongata is a species of sea cucumber in the family Cucumariidae. It is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Mediterranean Sea. It is an infaunal species, occupying a burrow in the seabed, from which its anterior and posterior ends project.
Pontobdella muricata is a species of marine leech in the family Piscicolidae. It is a parasite of fishes and is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Pourtalesia miranda, commonly known as the wonderful sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Pourtalesiidae. It is found at abyssal depths in the Atlantic Ocean.
Echinocyamus pusillus, commonly known as the pea urchin or green urchin, is a species of sand dollar, a sea urchin in the family Fibulariidae, native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It buries itself in gravel or coarse sand at depths down to about 1,250 m (4,000 ft).
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