Meoma ventricosa (red heart urchin) (Grand Cayman Island, Caribbean Sea) 3

Description:

Description: English: Clypeaster rosaceus - red heart urchin from the Cayman Islands. (oral side) Heart urchins (irregular echinoids) have somewhat globular skeletons (tests) composed of interlocking calcite plates. During life, the test is covered with short, fur-like spines. The skeleton is bilaterally symmetrical, not pentaradially symmetrical as in the sea urchins. The upper side of the skeleton has the pattern of a 5-petaled star - each petal is an ambulacrum. Heart urchins are infaunal deposit feeders - they consume bulk sediments, digest any organic matter mixed in, and excrete large quantities of sediments. Classification: Animalia, Echinodermata, Echinoidea, Spatangoida, Clypeasteridae Locality: Grand Cayman Island, south of Cuba, northwestern Caribbean Sea. Date: 14 October 2020, 15:48:09. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/50511628408/. Author: James St. John.