Sea potato
The sea potato is a large, heart-shaped sea urchin. The bald, breakable skeleton of the sea potato is sometimes found on the beach. A live sea potato has lots of spines which are flattened across its body. Its spines are shorter than by sea urchins, looking more like hair than spines. Actually, it looks a lot like a hairy potato. Because it eats organic wastes, it is extremely sensitive to oil pollution on the sea floor.
Features
| size: | up to 9 centimeters in diameter |
| color: | bare skeleton white-yellow; living animal iwth brown-yellow spines |
| age: | possible more than 10 years |
| food: | organic waste |
| enemies: | pollution, fisheries, seals, some fish |
| reproduction: | sexual |
Food
Sea potatoes live dug into the bottom, keeping a tunnel open to the surface through which they stick their long suction feet. They use these sensitive feet to search the surface for organic waste. These feet can distinguish between edible and non-edible food. Because sea potatoes live in the sand and have a breakable skeleton, they are very vulnerable to disturbances on the bottom. If caught in a fishing net, they have little chance of survival since they are easily squished.
Distribution and habitat
Sea potatoes are found throughout the world, down to 250 meters deep. It is a common species in Dutch waters. Sea potatoes live in sand, digging itself in using its spiny hairs. It lives 10 to 15 centimeters under the surface.
Names:
Dut: Zeeklit (hartegel)
Lat: Echinocardium cordatum
Eng: Sea potato (heart urchin)
Ger: Großer Herzigel
Fr: Oeuf de Grisard
