Red Sea Urchin
Mesocentrotus franciscanus
Marine Life of the Northeast Pacific (MLNEP) notes 6
Summary 7
The red sea urchin (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) is a sea urchin found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California. It lives in shallow waters from the low-tide line to greater than 100 m (330 ft) deep, and is typically found on rocky shores sheltered from extreme wave action.
Description 8
A sea urchin's spherical body is completely covered by sharp spines. These spines grow on a hard shell called the "test", which encloses the animal. It can vary in color from red to dark burgundy. Rarely, albino specimens are found. It has a mouth located on its underside, which is surrounded by five teeth. During larval development, the body of a sea urchin transitions from bilateral to radial symmetry.
This bilaterally symmetrical larva, called an echinopluteus, subsequently develops a type of pentaradiate symmetry that characterises echinoderms. It crawls very slowly over the sea bottom using its spines as stilts, with the help of its tube feet. Scattered among its spines are rows of tiny tube feet with suckers that help it to move and stick to the sea floor.
Fuentes y créditos
- (c) Rebecca Johnson, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC), subido por Rebecca Johnson
- (c) rebafay, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC), subido por rebafay, http://www.flickr.com/photos/97862725@N00/5812738360
- (c) tsoleau, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/23535767@N04/4572126941
- Ningún derecho reservado, http://www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/7164372739
- (c) Rebecca Johnson, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY), subido por Rebecca Johnson
- (c) Shannon Schmunk, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA)
- Adaptado por Shannon Schmunk del trabajo de (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://hub.toolforge.org/P3151:992313?lang=
- (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_sea_urchin
