Sand dollar Totally Explained

Everything about Sand Dollar totally explained

Sand Dollars are in the Echinoid (Echinoderms) class of marine animals. When they're living, they're covered with a suit of moveable spines that encompass the entire shell. Like its close relative the sea urchin, the sand dollar has a set of five pores arranged in a petal pattern. The pores are used to move sea water into its internal water-vascular system, which allows the creature to move.
   Sand dollars live beyond mean low water on top of or just beneath the surface of sandy or muddy areas. The spines on the somewhat flattened underside of the animal allow it to burrow or to slowly creep through the sand. Fine, hair-like cilia cover the tiny spines. Tubefeet or podia that line the food grooves, move food to the mouth opening which is in the center of the star shaped grooves on the underside of the animal called the oral surface. Its food consists of crustacean larvae, small copepods, detritus, diatoms, algae and organic particles that end up in the sandy bottom.
   On the ocean bottom, sand dollars are frequently found together. This is due in part to their preference of soft bottom areas, which are convenient for their reproduction. The sexes are separate and, as with most echinoids, gametes are released into the water column. The free-swimming larvae metamorphose through several stages before the skeleton or test begins to form, and they become bottom dwellers.
   The name "sand dollar" is a reference to their round flat shape, which is similar to a large coin.
   The term "sand dollar" can also refer to the test left when a sand dollar dies. By the time the test washes up on the beach, it's usually missing its velvety covering of minute spines and has a somewhat bleached appearance due to its exposure to the sun.
   In 2008, scientists showed that sand dollar larvae can clone themselves as a mechanism of self defense. Larvae exposed to mucus from predatory fish cloned themselves, effectively halving their size. The smaller larvae are believed to better escape detection from fish predators, but may increase the danger of predation from smaller animals, such as crustaceans.

Suborders and families

Clypeasterina
- Arachnoididae
- Clypeasteridae L. Agassiz, 1835
Laganina
- Fibulariidae Gray, 1855
- Laganidae
Rotulina
- Rotulidae
Scutellina
- Astriclypeidae
- Dendrasteridae Lambert, 1889
- Echinarachniidae Lambert, 1914
- Mellitidae Stefanini, 1911

Image:SandDollar2.jpg|Underside of same live sand dollar Image:SandDollarsOnSeabed.JPG|A number of sand dollars on a seabed Image:Keyholeyou are the worst

_sand_dollar_01.jpg|Keyhole sand dollar, Mellita quinquiesperforata Image:Mitchelville Beach Park 021008 Sand Dollar.jpg|Sand Dollar beneath the sand at low tide on Hilton Head Island Further Information

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