Page:First course in biology (IA firstcourseinbio00bailrich).pdf/275

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

feet arranged? Where do the rows begin and end? Would you think a sea urchin placed upside down in water, could right itself less or more readily than a starfish? What advantage in turning would each have that the other would not have? The name sea urchin has no reference to a mischievous boy, but means sea hedgehog (French oursin, hedgehog), the name being suggested by its spines.

Comparison of Starfish and Sea Urchin.—The water system of the sea urchin, consisting of madreporite, tubes, and water bulbs, or ampullæ, is similar to that of the starfish. The tube feet and locomotion are alike. There is no need for well-developed respiratory organs in either animal, as the whole body, inside and out, is bathed in water. The method of reproduction is the same.


Fig. 61.—A Sea Urchin crawling up the glass front wall of an aquarium (showing mouth spines and tube feet).

Fig. 62.—A Sea Urchin with spines removed, the limy plates showing the knobs on which the spines grew.

Fig. 63.—Section of Sea Urchin with soft parts removed, showing the jaws which bear the teeth protruding in Fig.62.

The starfish eats animal food. The food of the sea urchin is almost exclusively vegetable, hence it needs teeth (Fig. 62, 63); its food tube is longer than that of a starfish, just as the food tube of a sheep, whose food digests slowly, is much longer than that of a dog.