An animal shaped like a star. An animal that looks like a pincushion. An
animal that resembles a cookie. An animal that looks like a flower. And
an animal that looks like a vegetable. All these creatures that look
like other things belong to one “family” of sea
animals called echinoderms (ih [ky]{.smallcaps} nuh durmz).
Echinoderm means “hedgehog skin.” And all these animals do have a
tough skin covered with little bumps or with thorny points like those on
the back of a hedgehog.
The echinoderms—starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea lilies, and
sea cucumbers—are really rather strange creatures compared to many
other animals. Most of them have no head, eyes, ears, or nose. Some of
them have “feet” and “hands.” But the “feet” are hundreds of tiny
tubes and the “hands” are hundreds of tiny pincers.
Many of the creatures that live in the sea have relatives that live on
land, or in the fresh water of rivers and lakes. But there are no
echinoderms on land or in fresh water. These spiny-skinned animals are
found only in the sea.
starfishes