Sand Dollar: A Weight Belt for the Juvenile
- 6 July 1973
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 181 (4094), 73-74
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.181.4094.73
Abstract
Juvenile sand dollars (Dendraster excentricus) selectively ingest heavy sand grains from the substrate and store them in an intestinal diverticulum which may function as a weight belt, assisting the young animal to remain in the shifting sandy environment. The sand disappears from the diverticulum when the animal reaches the length of 30 millimeters.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recruitment risk, growth, age and predation in two populations of sand dollars, Dendraster excentricus (Eschscholtz)Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 1971
- Some observations on the locomotion and feeding of the sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus (Eschscholtz)Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 1969