Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Sea Potato

Echinocardium cordatum

EchinoideaSandy seabeds of temperate coasts, buried at depths of ten to twenty centimetres

Field profile

A heart-shaped burrowing urchin covered in short flattened spines, living permanently below the sand surface. Empty bleached tests wash up as fragile pale shells. It maintains a burrow connected to the surface by mucus-lined tubes.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-06-28

Sea Potato

The sea potato keeps a breathing shaft

Buried up to twenty centimetres deep in oxygen-poor sand, this urchin maintains a mucus-lined vertical funnel to the seabed surface using extremely long specialised tube feet, drawing clean water down to itself.

Read with evidence →

Sea Potato | Daily Animal Facts