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11 Echinoderms
When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to:
While slowly moving across the surface of a coral reef, the crown-of- 11.1
thorns sea star (Acanthaster planci) devours the coral animals in its Stars in the Sea
path. A voracious predator, the crown-of-thorns is responsible for the
destruction of coral reefs around Hawaii and other tropical islands in 11.2
the South Pacific. Adaptations in the
Sea stars, or starfish, are invertebrates that have a spiny skin cover- Sea Star
ing, among other unique features. Such spiny-skinned animals are
11.3
classified in the phylum Echinodermata (meaning “spiny skinned”).
This group also includes such animals as the sea urchin, brittle star,
Sea Urchins and
and sea cucumber. In this chapter, you will learn how these exclusively Sand Dollars
marine animals are adapted to the ocean environment. 11.4
Eccentric
Echinoderms
259
11.1 STARS IN THE SEA
Stroll along a beach and you might see a “starfish” clinging to rocks
at the water’s edge. These bottom-dwelling invertebrates are not fish
at all; they have neither scales nor a backbone. In fact, starfish, or
sea stars, as they are now more appropriately called, are types of
echinoderms—spiny-skinned animals that lack body segmentation
but have radial symmetry (usually five-part) and an internal skele-
ton. In radial symmetry, all similar body parts are regularly arranged
around the central point of an animal’s body.
There are more than 5000 species of echinoderms, which are
placed in five main classes: sea stars; sea urchins and sand dollars;
brittle stars; sea lilies and feather stars; and sea cucumbers. This first
section describes the familiar sea stars, members of the class Aster-
oidea, as representative of this phylum.
Sea stars often lose an appendage in struggles with other marine ani-
mals. When a sea star loses an arm, it can grow another one back, or
regenerate it, as evidenced by the fact that one arm will be notice-
ably shorter than the others.
The spines that give sea stars their characteristic rough skin are
composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The spines are connected
to an internal skeleton, or endoskeleton, within the skin, also com-
posed of CaCO3. The spiny covering helps support and protect the
echinoderm.
Sea stars breathe through their skin and through their tube feet.
On the dorsal surface of the skin are small, ciliated fingerlike pro-
jections called skin gills. Oxygen from the water diffuses through
the thin membrane of the tube feet and skin gills into a fluid-filled
space under the skin called a coelom. The coelom is lined with cili-
ated cells that beat back and forth to circulate oxygenated fluid
Echinoderms 261
around the body. Cell wastes and carbon dioxide diffuse from the
coelom through the skin gills and tube feet to the outside. In effect,
the sea star has an open circulatory system.
Arms
Grooves
Tube
Mouth feet
Groove
Central
Upper part disk
of stomach
Arm
Tube Stone
feet Sieve
canal
plate
Spines
Eyespot
Echinoderms 263
ter, an area referred to as the central disk. After entering, the water
passes down through a short stone canal, then into a circular ring
canal within the central disk. From the ring canal, the water flows
through the radial canals. There is one radial canal in each arm.
Many tube feet are connected to each of the radial canals.
Movement occurs when water enters the tube feet. At the top
of each tube foot is an ampulla, a structure that resembles the rub-
ber bulb on a medicine dropper. After the ampulla fills with water
from the radial canal, it contracts. This contraction of the ampul-
lae (by ampullar muscles) forces water into the tube feet, causing
them to extend. Then, when the tube feet make contact with a sub-
strate, circular and longitudinal muscle fibers within them contract,
forcing water back into the ampullae. This exit of water from the
tube feet creates the suction that holds the sea star to a substrate or
clamshell. The sea star uses this suction force to push and pull itself
along or to open a bivalve shell.
Echinoderms 265
Figure 11-5 Three repre-
sentative sea urchins; these
echinoderms use both
their tube feet and spines
for locomotion.
Echinoderms 267
11.4 ECCENTRIC ECHINODERMS
The sea urchin and the sea star are probably the most commonly
encountered echinoderms. Species of echinoderms that may be less
familiar to you are described below.
QUESTIONS
1. Why are some people concerned about the harvest of Galápagos sea cucumbers?
2. What groups of people are involved in this controversy? Defend the position of one group.
3. Describe a possible compromise (solution) that might satisfy all the parties involved.
4. How is sustainability of the harvest related to survival of the sea cucumber?
Echinoderms 269
or to capture suspended food bits with their tube feet—all of which
is brought into their jawed mouth.
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Laboratory Investigation 11
Adaptations of Sea Stars
PROBLEM: How is the sea star adapted for carrying out its life functions?
MATERIALS: Living sea star, pan of seawater, hand lens, fresh clam or mussel.
PROCEDURE
1. Put a sea star, dorsal side up, in a shallow pan and cover it with seawater.
Use the sea star diagrams in Figures 11-3 and 11-4 as a guide. How many
arms or appendages does the sea star have? Make a sketch of your sea star.
Label one of the arms in your drawing.
2. Feel the skin of the sea star. Then examine the skin with a hand lens. Notice
the short spines, which you were able to feel. The spines are connected to an
endoskeleton, which is composed of calcium carbonate (like the shells of
mollusks). Label the spines in your drawing.
3. How does the sea star breathe? Examine the skin with your hand lens. Look
for tiny fingerlike projections, called skin gills. Oxygen diffuses from the water
through the thin membrane of the skin gills and into the coelom.
5. Locate the tube feet by turning the sea star over. The many tube feet are in
grooves that run down the center of each arm. Touch the tube feet; you will
notice that they cling to your finger. Each tube foot looks like a tiny plunger.
Put the sea star back in the pan of water, with the tube feet facing down.
Notice the clinging and pulling action of the tube feet used in locomotion.
Make a sketch of a tube foot and describe its function.
6. Now place the sea star ventral side up in the pan of seawater. Make a sketch
of the sea star that shows its ventral side. Describe the motion of the tube
feet. Can the sea star turn itself over? Which arms does it use to turn over?
Record your observations in a copy of Table 11-1 in your notebook.
Dorsal Side
Ventral Side
7. How does the sea star feed? Look for the mouth in the center of the sea star
on its ventral side. The mouth is too small to ingest a whole clam. Instead,
the sea star pushes its thin, membranous stomach out through its mouth
and into the clam’s shell, where it digests the food externally. Open up a
mussel or clam shell and put it in a pan of seawater. Place a sea star that has
not been fed for a few days next to the clam. Record your observations.
8. How does a sea star open up a clam? Put your hand underwater and place a
sea star on top of it. Gently try to pull the sea star off your hand. Notice how
it clings to your skin. The tube feet, with their suction disks, generate a
pulling force. When the arms of a sea star are draped over the two shells of a
clam, hundreds of tube feet pull the shells in opposite directions. The adduc-
tor muscles in the clam become fatigued, causing the shells to open.
Echinoderms 273
Chapter 11 Review
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
Vocabulary
The following list contains all the boldface terms in this chapter.
Fill In
Use one of the vocabulary terms listed above to complete each sentence.
Inquiry
Base your answers to questions 9 through 12 on the results of the experi-
ment described below and on your knowledge of marine science.
1 0.15 1 6.0
2 0.17 2 10.0
3 0.33 3 2.0
4 0.25 4 1.75
5 0.23 5 2.50
6 0.15 6 2.0
Echinoderms 275
Multiple Choice
Choose the response that best completes the sentence or answers the
question.
13. The small ciliated projections that
enable breathing in this animal are
called
a. spines
b. skin gills
c. ampullae
d. eyespots.
14. You notice that a sea star in an aquarium has one very short
arm. The best explanation for this is that a. its growth
hormones have been suppressed b. the appendage was lost
and is regenerating c. its tube feet are not functioning
d. the arm is not really needed.
15. The side of a sea star on which its sieve plate is found is the
a. dorsal b. ventral c. anterior d. posterior.
16. What prevents a sea star from falling off the side of an
aquarium tank? a. clinging action of its tube feet
b. suction by its mouth c. adhesive properties of its spines
d. water pressure
17. The symmetry of echinoderms is referred to as a. bilateral
b. radial c. spiral d. unilateral.
18. A sea star can open up a clam because of the functioning of its
a. tube feet b. spines c. stomach d. madreporite.
19. The crown-of-thorns sea star is considered a pest because it
a. destroys coral reefs b. consumes bivalve mollusks
c. is harmful to humans d. is harmful to fish.
20. The function of the water vascular system in the sea star is to
enable a. locomotion b. digestion c. sensitivity
d. respiration.
21. Which of these echinoderms moves most rapidly on the
seafloor? a. sea star b. brittle star c. sea lily
d. sea urchin
Research/Activity
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