So, this summer I kept finding on the beach those weird shells I had never seen before. Most of them were broken and in bad shape, however I encountered a couple ones that were in a somewhat good condition. Here's two I have kept as a memento:
Two of the weird shells and other creatures I have discovered in the sea. AA battery for size comparison
Close up photos:
What I found particularly weird about them is that the "fresher" ones appeared to be covered by some weird kind of dense hair. So they had a body that looked somewhat like those urchins have but instead of spines they had hair. Why exactly I kept finding so many of these dead creatures is something I still don't know. I have been going to that same beach where I kept founding them this summer for 15 years now and had never seen one before. But this summer there were hundreds of them washed in the shore... My guess is that an environmental factor or maybe a disease obliterated their populations.
But at least today I finally learned what these things actually are. They are POTATOES! They belong to the cosmopolitan Echinocardium cordatum species (or some other similarly looking species from the same genus), a sea urchin from the family Loveniidae which is commonly known as... the sea potato!
Echinocardium cordatum - Sea Potato (credit)
Sea potato shell (credit)
But why are they called that way? Well, first because with a bit of imagination they look like potatoes. And second, because when alive they stay hidden below the sea floor:
The sea potato buries itself in sand to a depth of ten to fifteen centimetres. It occurs in sediments with a wide range of grain sizes but prefers sediments with a size of 200 to 300 µm and a low mud content.[source]
Their burrowing lifestyle also explains why I have never seen a live one. But next summer I know what to look for if I get hungry:
t makes a respiratory channel leading to the surface and two sanitary channels behind itself, all lined by a mucus secretion. The location of burrows can be recognised by a conical depression on the surface in which detritus collects. This organic debris is used by the buried animal as food and is passed down by means of the long tube feet found in the front of the ambulacrum. [source]
There isn't much else interesting to say about these creatures, I mostly wanted to share this experience with you guys. But if for whatever reason you want to learn more about them here is a link to eol with everything there is to know :)
Now let me close this post with something really cool my beloved @ruth-girl made me with dead animals I collected this summer. Who said death can't be cute?
"Who said death can't be cute?"
I'm trying and trying to come up with a clever, flippant retort. Here is what I have so far:
Hehe, sometimes I have my moments too :D
How come you can take them a picture. Let me guess they are not eatables?
Too crunchy for my taste!
The perfect potato for fish & chips, 2 in 1 with distinctive "sea flawor"
hahahahahah
Haha crazy, I've never heard of or seen these before. Whenever I go to the beach, I look for shells to give to my mom the next time I see her...I'll be on the look out for these, they'll go well with her potato garden!
Finding an intact one is gonna tough. They break really easily. Your best bet is to use the instructions from the post and look for live ones :)
I have found all of those but I have never found hippokampus.
I'm impressed!
A lucky catch when I was 15 years old, about 15 years ago :P The first and only I have seen in the wild!
wow you are lucky!
If not for the advent of “currency”, these shells would be very good to be used as money. Just like the ancient period of cowries :)
They break extremely easily, they wouldn't be good money I think :P
Oh damn. But it could work though. When they break into bits, they become bitcurrency (like the fiat version of bitcoin) xD
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τι μαθαίνει κανείς...
...τι να πρωτοσχολιάσω στη φωτο. Σχέδια πολύμετρου από κάτω star wars πισω του δεξια , το κουτί από το φυτό που αγόρασες σε κιτ πίσω αριστερά και μπροστά το δημιούργημα της αγαπητής @ruth-girl... Σουλουπώσουυυυυυ
Χαχαχα, το χάος είναι στην καρδιά των καλλιτεχνικών ψυχών! :-D
σωστό και αυτό...
Amazing! I have found two or three of these in my life and I was always fascinated by them and kept wondering what they are! Unfortunately they are very rare to find (or maybe fortunately for them, knowing that we find them when they are dead :-D ) and they are really in bad shape and easily broken! Thank you for the information!