Seeing Stars

 Today, we got to see several examples of Echinoderms. We saw an Urchin, a Sun Star, and several types of Brittle Star. These animals were identified as echinoderms because they had radial symmetry and an endoskeleton. They also had the classic "spiny skin" for which the phylum is named.  We were able to visualize the way the seastar uses its water vascular system to walk as we watched the Sun Seastar's tubule feet suction onto our hands and move about in the specimen container. We found them among the basalt boulders and mixed substrate in the intertidal area near downtown Puerto Penasco. These amazing animals were found mostly between intertidal zones 3 and 4. We knew this because we saw a couple of clusters of a specific type of Anemone resembling Cheerios that belong in zone 4.

-Candace Hickey











 

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