Beach find

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Beach find

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derbyshiredowser

Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Posts: 980
Location: derbyshire

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 18 10:05 am Post subject: Beach find
Found this on the beach at Porthmadog last week and wondered what it was ,can't find it in any books , Thanks

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 18 11:06 am Post subject:
Some sort of sea urchin?

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15452
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 18 11:30 am Post subject:

sean wrote:

Some sort of sea urchin?

Yup.
Sand dollar? Or sea potato?

ETA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocardium_cordatum

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 18 12:00 pm Post subject:
Yup again. Picture of its brother here: www.naturamediterraneo.com/Public/data6/IvanMulero/Echinocardium-cordatum-T.jpg_20071013132327_Echinocardium-cordatum-T.jpg Henry

derbyshiredowser

Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Posts: 980
Location: derbyshire

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 18 12:27 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

sean wrote:

Some sort of sea urchin?

Yup.
Sand dollar? Or sea potato?

ETA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocardium_cordatum

Thanks for that, yes that's definitely it, interesting article and quite long living creature.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16121

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 18 6:54 am Post subject:
I have always known them as sea urchin shells, but never seen a live one that could be identified as being from one. I have a little one I picked up on a beach in Devon.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 18 3:06 pm Post subject:
Sea urchins sah, thasands of them...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46384
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 18 10:20 pm Post subject:

iirc they live n die as a collective so i spose if any wash up it is often many in one go.

if it has been calm for a while any dead ones will get stirred up at the same time.

ages ago i saw a bunch of freshish ( not very fresh

) ones that still had some spines and contents after a storm and tide had swirled em out of the sand onto the beach.

as soon as you go below lowest low tide there are a huge variety of odd beasties, sea squirts have ace comedy value if one's chums have never been handed one before, especially when the single cavity two holes thing is explained,
there is a high probability that our gt gt ( to the power N where N is a very big number ) grannie was a sea squirt of some sort.
iirc tunicates are first in the fossil record for anything resembling a gut with two ends

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15452
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 18 8:54 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

there is a high probability that our gt gt ( to the power N where N is a very big number ) grannie was a sea squirt of some sort.
iirc tunicates are first in the fossil record for anything resembling a gut with two ends

I think the more relevant feature is the beginnings of a backbone.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46384
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 18 11:12 am Post subject:
the gut evolved long before chordata. tunicates predate worms, molluscs etc etc and seem to be a direct ancestor of all tubes.

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