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Echinoderms Jo O'Keefe Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved. Photos may be used for educational purposes only. Contact me with inquiries. |
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Sea
Stars
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Tropical
Storm Hannah departed from Sunset Beach. NC, and Little River, SC,
on 9/6/08. after making landfall the preceding evening. At low tide
I found the island looking like Mars, with sea stars everywhere covered
with sand. A woman and I rinsed them off in the inlet and sorted them.
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I
brought some sea stars home to save for researchers. Unfortunately,
the "stone" of my aerator backed its way out of their container.
Several died and broke. The grey sea star with black markings might
be Astropecten duplicatus.
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Sea
Star, species unknown
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Luidia
clathrata, 01/19/10, Sunset Beach, NC
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Luidia
clathrata, striped Sea star found on Sunset Beach, 11/22/06
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An
unusual sea star for here, Luidia alternata, found on 09/01/06
on Sunset Beach the day after Tropical Storn Ernesto
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Forbes
Sea Star found on Sunset Beach on 11/2/06
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Astropecten sp., Sunset Beach, NC, 12/04/09 -- note pair of spines
like lumps at the crook of each pair of arms, and the madreporite
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Astropecten
articulatus, beaded or marginated sea star, found on Sunset Beach
on 10/22/06
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Astropecten
articulatus, Sunset Beach, NC, 01/19/10
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Luidia
clathrata, Left and another Luidia, Right
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Sanibel
Bay Sea Star
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Luidia
senegalensis found on Sanibel Island, Florida
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Brittle
Stars
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Brittle
stars found on in seaweed from Edisto Beach, SC, on 3/4/07 -- they were
each about four inches wide while curled.
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Ophiolepsis
elegans -- I think! The right one was 5" wide and found on
Sunset Beach, NC, on 10/21/06
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Brittle
star, genus Ophiactis, and its disk
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Brittle
star mouth
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Sea
Cucumbers
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Hairy
Sea Cucumbers found on Sunset Beach, 11/2/06 -- 1st 3 photos
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Hairy
Sea Cucumber found on Sunset Beach, NC, 11/14/06
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Hairy
Sea Cucumber, Sclerodactyla briareus
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Striped
Sea Cucumber, Thyonella gemmata Pourtales
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Unidentified
sea cucumber
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Hairy
Sea Cucumber, Sclerodactyla briareus --
the one on the right is in my salt water aquarium
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Sea
Urchins
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Sea
urchin, probably Lytechinus variegatus
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Sea
urchin, Lytechinus
variegatus, climbing wall of plastic container
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Sea
urchin -- this could be a juvenile Lytechinus
variegatus or a short-spined species
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Test
of Lytechinus variegatus
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This
and the remaining tests are from Arbacia punctulata
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Tests
from six sea urchins, two species
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Sea
Urchin Anus
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Aristotle's
Lanterns -- Center "infrastructure" of Sea Urchin -- they
are composed of five outer teeth and internal ossicles and muscles.
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Fossil
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Sand
Dollars
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Sand
Dollars -- left, with Aristotle's Lanterns, center "infrastructure
of" sand dollar
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Sand
Dollars -- live, emerging from sand
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Sand
dollars encrusted with sabellariid worm tubes
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Sand
Dollar Petals
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Sand
Dollar Tubercles
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Lunule
with spines
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