Echinoderms are marine invertebrates with spiny skin and five-part radial symmetry. They include sea stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea lilies. Sea stars have tube feet and a water vascular system to move. They are predators that eat mollusks and crustaceans. Sea urchins are herbivores that graze on algae and plants using their tube feet. Sea cucumbers extract nutrients from sand and release toxic organs as a defense.

1. Echinoderms
“spiny skin”

2. Echinoderms: Main Characteristics
• Spiny Skin
– Exoskeleton
– Musculoskeletal
• 5 part radial symmetry
– Penta-radial
• Tube feet: Movement
– Water-vascular system
• Benthic organisms

4. Classes
• Asteroidea: Sea Stars
• Ophiuroidea: brittle
stars
• Echinoidea: sea urchins
and sand dollars
• Holothuroidea: Sea
cucumbers
• Crinoidea: Sea Lilies and
feather stars

5. Class Asteroidea: Sea Stars
• Aster = star, oides = in
the form of
• Large Coelome
• Circulatory system:
– use diffusion & cilia to
move gas, nutrients and
waste
• Respiratory system:
– Dermal branchi on skin

6. Diagram the arm of the starfish

7. Asteroidea
• Digestive System:
– Mouth on underside
– Opens into cardiac
stomach
• Folds out of body into prey
to secrete enzymes
– Opens into the pyloric
system
• Nutrients diffuse out of the
pyloric stomach
• Eat:
– mollusks, crustaceans, polych
aetes, coral, detritus

9. The Water Vascular System
• Who can explain how hydraulics work?
• Water Vascular System:
– Made up of a series of water-filled canals that run
down the arms from a canal ring in the center
• Radial canal – ampullae – tubed feet

10. Water Vascular System

11. Asteroidea vs. Ophiuroidea
• Sea Star vs. Brittle Star
– Both can regenerate
arms
• Sea Stars:
– Arms attached to arms
– Carnivores: Active
Predators
• Brittle Star
– Arms NOT attached to
arms
– Not active predators: eat
plankton

12. Echinoidea: Sea Urchins
• Same structure, longer
spines than starfish
– Move by means of tube
feet
• Feeding
– Herbivores, feed on
algae and marine plants
– Grazers
– Scrape food
• Roles:
– Control algae

13. Sea Cucumbers
• Elongated Body Plan
– Long sea urchin
• Tube feet to move
• Separate sexes
• Take organic nutrients out
of sand
– Use oral tentacles
• Defense:
– release internal organs
– Tubules called cuvierian
tubules: sticky and
poisonous

14. Sea urchins and Sea stars feeding
in the Antarctic
• http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/life-the-
series-videos/?bcid=73073289001