Sand Dollar
Sand dollars are members of the group of spiny-skinned marine creatures called echinoderms (i-KIE-nuh-durms). Within the echinoderms, sand dollars belong to a large and diverse group, ranging from the tiny pea urchins to sand dollars the size of dinner plates. There are about 150 living species of sand dollars, and about 750 known fossil species. Their closest relatives are sea urchins. However, unlike them, sand dollars have a flattened body and much smaller spines that form a dense, velvety covering.
LYING LOW
Sand dollars often form dense colonies on sandy seabeds. These are most common in warm waters, particularly off the coasts of Japan and the United States. Their greatly flattened body helps them stay low, out of currents and waves that might dislodge them.
A sand dollar’s body is enclosed in a hollow bony skeleton called a test. Like that of most other echinoderms, the body is made up of five similar sections arranged in a circle, although sand dollars have a distinct front and rear end. Between the tiny spines there are sucker-tipped tube feet and pincerlike structures called pedicellariae.
The tube feet connect to a series of water-filled canals, called the water vascular system. This system runs from the center of the body on the underside, near the mouth, out to the summit at the margins of the test and then to the summit at the top of the sand dollar. It supplies water to the tube feet, which can then be used in feeding and respiration.
HIDDEN AWAY
Most sand dollars live buried just beneath the sediment. They dig using their movable spines, tilting their bodies at a shallow angle, then plowing downward. One or two species remain only partly buried, with the rear section protruding into the water. A few rest exposed on the seabed.
Sand dollars are vulnerable to being picked up and flipped over by a surge of water or ocean currents. The young of many species have a notched shape that helps to reduce the lifting effect of water flowing over them. An overturned sand dollar rights itself by digging into the sand until it flips over.
The main predators of sand dollars are starfish and marine snails. Sand dollars defend themselves by burying into the sediment. They are often able to detect a predator some distance away by sensing chemicals in the water.
DEVELOPMENT
Sand dollars are either male or female. The eggs and sperm are released into the water via small openings at the top of the domed upper surface of the test. The fertilized eggs develop into larvae that float in the plankton.
After growing for several weeks, during which time they develop long extensions that they use for swimming and feeding, the larvae sink toward the bottom. There they change into tiny adults, losing the feeding extensions and developing a test. Most species reach full size after around five years.