Echinodermata is a phylum of the kingdom Animalia. The name translates to "spiny skin," and their skin serves as their skeleton, meaning they are invertebrates. They usually reside on the ocean floor in the benthic zone (seabed) of all depths of waters from the shallow intertidal zone to the deep abyssal zone. Some easily recognizable echinoderms are sea stars, sand dollars, and sea urchins. Echinoderms have multiple types of feeding methods depending in the species. For example, sea stars and sea slugs are predators. They hunt down their prey and move across the ocean floor to eat other organisms. Other species like brittle stars are filter feeders that take in nutrients from the water around them. Sea urchins are grazers that eat availible plants. Echinoderms move around using tube feet. Tube feet are tube-like limbs that are used for movement, feeding, and respiration. Some predators and prey of common echinoderms are:
- Fish (predators of sea stars)
- Sea Turtles (predators of sea stars)
- Shrimp (predators of sea stars)
- Sea Otters (predators of sea urchins)
- Birds (predators of sea urchins)
- Sea Stars (predators of sea urchins, brittle stars, and sand dollars)
- Crabs (predators of sea stars, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers)
- Fish (predators of sea stars, brittle stars, and sea urchins)
- Sharks (predators of sea cucumbers)
- Mollusks (prey of sea stars)
- Barnacles (prey of sea urchins)
Sea Star
Echinodermata species and classes:
- Purple Sea Urchin (Echinoidea)
- Bat Star/Webbed Star (Asteroidea)
- Black Sea Urchin/Long-Spined Sea Urchin (Echinoidea)
- Red Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea)
- Eccentric Sand Dollar (Echinoidea)
- Blue Sea Star (Asteroidea)
- Pycnopodia/Sunflower Sea Star (Asteroidea)
- Crown of Thorns Starfish (Asteroidea)
- Six-Rayed Star (Asteroidea)
- Common Brittle Stars (Ophiuroidea)
- Feather Stars (Crinoidea)
- Snake Sea Cucumber/Spotted Worm Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea)
- Reef Urchin (Echinoidea)
- Long-Armed Brittle Star (Ophiuroidea)
- Pacific Blood Star (Asteroidea)
- Giant Sea Star/Giant Spined Star (Asteroidea)
- Imperial Sea Urchin/Land Mine Sea Urchin (Echinoidea)
- Cushion Star (Asteroidea)
- Heart Urchin/Sea Potato (Echinoidea)
- Forbes Sea Star (Asteroidea)
- Helmet Urchin/Shingle Urchin (Echinoidea)
- Purple Sea Star/Ochre Sea Star (Asteroidea)
- Slate Pencil Urchin (Echinoidea)