Wild Harris
Heart Urchin
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You will often find the fragile shells of this animal washed up on sandy beaches, particularly places like Horgabost and Seilebost. This urchin lives its life just beneath the surface of the sand. Unlike most urchins, this does have a front and back end - it moves about using its backward- pointing spines, feeding on whatever it finds buried in the sand.
Heart Urchin (Photo: Paul Tyler)
The empty shell of a heart urchin washed up on the beach. You can see the 5 rows of holes where the tube feet were, but almost all of the spines have fallen off. Another name for this urchin is 'sea potato'.
by Paul Tyler
Link to Shore Animals
Link to Soft Seabed Animals