Heart Urchin

This fragile 5 cm skeleton of a sea urchin was found almost denuded of its hairy spikes although there are evidences on its other side. It is sometimes called a Sea Potato (Echinocardium cordatum) or a Heart Urchin because of its heart shape. They are seldom seen alive as they live between 8 and 15 cm deep in the wet sand at or just beyond the low tide level. Fragments of the larger pretty round purple sea urchin are more commonly found on the beach but this shows its markings very well.