Sea Potato

Echinocardium cordatum

Sea Life Native IUCN: Not Evaluated

About

The sea potato is a large, heart-shaped sea urchin. It is sometimes referred to as a heart urchin. You often see pieces of its bare and very breakable skeleton on the beach. A live sea potato has lots of spines which are flattened across its body. Its spines are shorter than by sea urchins and look more like hair than spines. Actually, it looks a lot like a hairy potato.

This Heart Urchin burrows in sand using special spines to construct and maintain a funnel in the sand to enable oxygenated water to circulate over its body while it is buried. It is possibly the world's most widely-distributed heart urchin. They feed on organic matter in the sediment.

Size

Test diameter up to 6 cm

Habitat

Sand areas, sometimes in shallow waters, to depth of 230m

Distribution

Cosmopolitan (World Oceans)

Local Sightings

1 recorded sighting in and around the area.

References & citations (2)
  1. The Atlas of Living Australia (accessed 2021-09-22 14:03:33)
  2. Kroh, A.; Mooi, R. (2021). World Echinoidea Database. Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species (accessed 2021-10-23 10:11:37)

Header image: CC BY-SA 4.0 © wildroo

Disclaimer: A lot of work goes into making sure identifications, descriptions, sizes, habitats and distribution details are as accurate as possible — but this information is ever-changing, so no guarantee is offered that it is correct or currently valid. Treat it as a guide and do a little of your own research for the latest word. Feedback and corrections are always welcome.