Sand Dollar (23040777650)

Description:

Description: Found at Popham Beach State Park but photographed in my basement. Some sand came with so I included sand here. The term sand dollar (or sea cookie or snapper biscuit in New Zealand, or pansy shell in South Africa) are species of extremely flattened, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida. Some species within the order, not quite as flat, are known as sea biscuits. Related animals include other sea urchins, sea cucumbers and starfish. The bodies of adult sand dollars, like those of other echinoids, display radial symmetry. The petal-like pattern in sand dollars consists of five paired rows of pores. The pores are perforations in the endoskeleton through which podia for gas exchange project from the body. The mouth of the sand dollar is located on the bottom of its body at the center of the petal-like pattern. Unlike other urchins, the bodies of sand dollars also display secondary front-to-back bilateral symmetry. [Wikipedia]. Date: Taken on 25 November 2015, 18:16. Source: Sand Dollar. Author: Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA.