Phylum

Common name: Echinoderms

Scientific name: Echinodermata

Echinoderms, belonging to the phylum Echinodermata, are a fascinating group of marine animals that include species such as starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers. These creatures are exclusively marine and are known for their radial symmetry, typically having a five-point symmetry, although some species can have more. One of the most distinctive features of echinoderms is their unique water vascular system, which functions in locomotion, feeding, and respiration. This system is a network of hydraulic canals that facilitate movement through the extension and retraction of tube feet.

Echinoderms play vital roles in marine ecosystems. Sea urchins, for example, are important grazers that help control algal populations on coral reefs. Starfish are often top predators in their environments, preying on mollusks and other invertebrates. Sea cucumbers contribute to the health of the ocean floor by recycling nutrients as they feed on detritus. This ecological significance makes echinoderms valuable not only for their biodiversity but also for maintaining the balance of marine habitats.

For aquarium hobbyists, echinoderms can be both intriguing and challenging additions. They require stable water conditions and a well-established tank to thrive. It's important to research the specific needs of each species, as their dietary and environmental requirements can vary significantly. Sea urchins, for example, may require supplemental feeding if algae are not abundant, while starfish may need specific types of prey. Additionally, echinoderms are sensitive to changes in water chemistry, so maintaining consistent water quality is crucial for their health.

  1. Crown of Thorns Starfish (Purple Variant)
    Common name: Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
    Scientific name: Acanthaster planci
  2. Common name: Bannwarth's Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Actinopyga bannwarthi
  3. Prickly sea cucumber, Fury Shoal, Red Sea, Egypt
    Common name: Spiny Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Actinopyga crassa
  4. Actinopyga Mauritiana - Sea Cucumber
    Common name: Brownfish
    Scientific name: Actinopyga echinites
  5. Red holothurian underwater
    Common name: stone fish (holothurian)
    Scientific name: Actinopyga lecanora
  6. Actinopyga Mauritiana - Sea Cucumber
    Common name: Surf redfish
    Scientific name: Actinopyga mauritiana
  7. Common name: Plump sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Actinopyga obesa
  8. The amazing and mysterious underwater world of Indonesia, North Sulawesi, Manado, brittlestar
    Common name: brittlestar
    Scientific name: Amphiura filiformis
  9. Mediterranean feather star water lilly - Antedon mediterranea on sea bed
    Common name: Feather star
    Scientific name: Antedon mediterranea
  10. A Pickle of Sea Cucumbers
    Common name: California Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Apostichopus californicus
  11. Tropical sea cucumber (Pearsothuria graeffei)
    Common name: Warty sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Apostichopus parvimensis
  12. Common name: Burton's Starfish
    Scientific name: Aquilonastra burtoni
  13. Sand Sifting Sea Star - (Astropecten polycanthus)
    Common name: Sand Sifting Starfish
    Scientific name: Archaster angulatus
  14. sand sifting starfish (archaster typicus) moving through the glass of a reef aquarium
    Common name: Indo-Pacific Beach Star
    Scientific name: Archaster typicus
  15. Northern Pacific Seastar (Asterias amurensis) in Japan
    Common name: Northern Pacific Seastar
    Scientific name: Asterias amurensis
  16. étoile de mer commune (Asterias rubens).
    Common name: Northern Sea Star
    Scientific name: Asterias rubens
  17. Common name: sheriff-badge sea star
    Scientific name: Asteropsis carinifera
  18. Magnificent fire urchin (Asthenosoma ijimai) near Anilao, Batangas, Luzon, Philippines.  Underwater photography and travel.
    Common name: Fire Urchin
    Scientific name: Asthenosoma ijimai
  19. Coleman Shrimp, Periclimenes colemani, Sea Urchin, Variable Fire Urchin, Asthenosoma varium, Coral Reef, Lembeh, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia
    Common name: variable fire urchin
    Scientific name: Asthenosoma varium
  20. Common name: Anderson's Sand Star
    Scientific name: Astropecten andersoni
  21. Orange Comb Starfish under water - Astropecten sp.
    Common name: Royal Starfish
    Scientific name: Astropecten aranciacus
  22. Giovane esemplare di stella marina, Astropecten bispinosus, tra la sabbia
    Common name: Bispinosus Sand Star
    Scientific name: Astropecten bispinosus
  23. Sand Sifting Sea Star - (Astropecten polycanthus)
    Common name: Sand Sifting Starfish
    Scientific name: Astropecten jonstoni
  24. Astropecten spiny sea star on silty bottom
    Common name: comb star
    Scientific name: Astropecten polyacanthus
  25. Basket Star Astrophyton muricatum in Tayrona National Natural Park
    Common name: Giant Basket Star
    Scientific name: Astrophyton muricatum
  26. Magnificent Urchin Astropyga magnifica
    Common name: Pale spine fire urchin
    Scientific name: Astropyga magnifica
  27. Blue-spotted Urchin (Astropyga radiata)
    Common name: Blue-spotted Urchin
    Scientific name: Astropyga radiata
  28. Brown sea cucumber (Holothuria stellati) on sea bottom, Aegean Sea, Greece, Halkidiki
    Common name: New zealand sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Australostichopus mollis
  29. A large sea cucumber, Bohadschia argus, is found on the sand and rubble seafloor in Palau. This echinoderm can eject sticky, toxic tubules out of its anus that deter predators.
    Common name: Leopard Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Bohadschia argus
  30. Indonesia, Crab on sea cucumber (Lissocarcinus orbicularis) and (Bohadschia marmorata)
    Common name: Pale marbled sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Bohadschia marmorata
  31. Common name: Brownspotted sandfish
    Scientific name: Bohadschia vitiensis
  32. Sand dollar and shell lying on the beach
    Common name: Lesser Sand Dollar
    Scientific name: Brissus latecarinatus
  33. Common name: groove burrowing urchin
    Scientific name: Brissus unicolor
  34. Hatpin sea urchin - Centrostephanus longispinus
    Common name: long-spined urchin
    Scientific name: Centrostephanus longispinus
  35. Large almost black Rodgers sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii hiding in rock crevice covered with colourful encrusting invertebrate life forms.
    Common name: Long-spined Sea Urchin
    Scientific name: Centrostephanus rodgersii
  36. Pink warty sea cucumber
    Common name: Red box sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Cercodemas anceps
  37. Sea star in the coral reef, Bali sea, Indonesia
    Common name: Red Brittle Star
    Scientific name: Chaetaster longipes
  38. Granulated Sea Star (Choriaster granulatus)
    Common name: Granulated Sea Star
    Scientific name: Choriaster granulatus
  39. Close up of sea urchin Sand dollar, Cake urchin or Sea Biscuits on sandy bottom in sun glare, Red sea, Egypt
    Common name: Sand Dollar
    Scientific name: Clypeaster humilis
  40. Close up of sea urchin Sand dollar, Cake urchin or Sea Biscuits on sandy bottom in sun glare, Red sea, Egypt
    Common name: Sand Dollar
    Scientific name: Clypeaster reticulatus
  41. Common name: sea biscuit
    Scientific name: Clypeaster rosaceus
  42. A Sand Dollar (Clypeaster subdepressus) on the beach
    Common name: sand dollar
    Scientific name: Clypeaster subdepressus
  43. Sea cucumber
    Common name: Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Colochirus crassus
  44. Prickly sea cucumber, Fury Shoal, Red Sea, Egypt
    Common name: Thorny sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Colochirus quadrangularis
  45. Colochirus robustus - Gelbe Seewalze im Komodo Nationalpark
    Common name: robust sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Colochirus robustus
  46. Feather Star, Crinoid, Coral Reef, Lembeh, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia
    Common name: Feather Star
    Scientific name: Comaster nobilis
  47. Yellow feather starfish (Comaster schlegelii), found in Similan island , Thailand 2018
    Common name: Feather Star
    Scientific name: Comaster schlegelii
  48. Étoile de mer épineuse - coscinasterias tenuispina
    Common name: white starfish
    Scientific name: Coscinasterias tenuispina
  49. Pin Cushion Sea Star (Culcita novaeguineae) in Sogod Bay near Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines.  Underwater photography and travel.
    Common name: pin-cushion sea star
    Scientific name: Culcita novaeguineae
  50. Cushion Star or Spiny cushion star (Culcita schmideliana), Indian Ocean, Maldives, Asia
    Common name: cushion star
    Scientific name: Culcita schmideliana
  51. Eccentric Sand Dollar - Dendraster excentricus
    Common name: Eccentric sand dollar
    Scientific name: Dendraster excentricus
  52. Underwater two long spined sea urchins, Diadema antillarum, on the seabed in the Caribbean sea
    Common name: long-spined sea urchin
    Scientific name: Diadema antillarum
  53. Diadema Savignyi - Diadematidae - Long-spined sea urchin - Black longspine urchin  - Banded diadem
    Common name: Sea urchin
    Scientific name: Diadema savignyi
  54. Sea Urchin Or Urchin Or Sea Hedgehog Diadema Setosum Swimming In
    Common name: black longspine urchin
    Scientific name: Diadema setosum
  55. Starfish, Echinaster callosus, Gili Lawat Indonesia
    Common name: Warty sea star
    Scientific name: Echinaster callosus
  56. Luzon Sea Star (Echinaster luzonicus)
    Common name: Luzon Sea Star
    Scientific name: Echinaster luzonicus
  57. Estrella de mar. Echinaster sepositus.
    Common name: Red starfish
    Scientific name: Echinaster sepositus
  58. Heart urchin, Echinocardium cordatum, Raja Ampat Indonesia.
    Common name: sea-potato
    Scientific name: Echinocardium cordatum
  59. Hawaiian Pink Rock Boring Urchin
    Common name: rock-boring urchin
    Scientific name: Echinometra lucunter
  60. Rock Boring Urchin (Echinometra mathaei) underwater hidden in a hole in coral, lagoon of Bora Bora, Pacific ocean, French Polynesia
    Common name: Rock Boring Urchin
    Scientific name: Echinometra mathaei
  61. Caribbean Reef Urchin (Echinometra viridis)
    Common name: Reef Urchin
    Scientific name: Echinometra viridis
  62. Needle-Spined Urchin on Coral Reef
    Common name: Urchin Spine Snail
    Scientific name: Echinostrephus aciculatus
  63. Common name: Burrowing fine spine urchin
    Scientific name: Echinostrephus molaris
  64. Bleistift-Diademseeigel  Echinothrix calamaris
    Common name: banded sea urchin
    Scientific name: Echinothrix calamaris
  65. Sea Urchin at Seabed Diadema Setosum
    Common name: Diadema urchin
    Scientific name: Echinothrix diadema
  66. Single European Edible Sea Urchin - latin Echinus esculentus - inhabiting seashore coastal waters of western Europe, in an zoological garden marine aquarium
    Common name: common sea urchin
    Scientific name: Echinus esculentus
  67. White Urchin
    Common name: Pineapple Sea Urchin
    Scientific name: Echinus melo
  68. Old sand dollar
    Common name: Sand Dollar
    Scientific name: Encope emarginata
  69. Head showing feeding tentacles of the sticky snake sea cucumber (Euapta godeffroyi), New Britain, Papua New Guinea
    Common name: Lion's Paw Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Euapta godeffroyi
  70. Common name: beaded sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Euapta lappa
  71.  slate pencil urchin Heterocentrotus mammillatus
    Common name: Pencil Urchin
    Scientific name: Eucidaris metularia
  72. Eucidaris tribuloides, the slate pencil urchin
    Common name: slate pencil urchin
    Scientific name: Eucidaris tribuloides
  73. Harlequin Shrimp, Hymenocera picta, with sea star food, Fromia monilis
    Common name: Orange spotted purple sea star
    Scientific name: Fromia elegans
  74. Ghardaqa red sea star - (fromia ghardaqana), underwater photo into the Red Sea
    Common name: Ghardaqa Sea Star
    Scientific name: Fromia ghardaqana
  75. Fromia Indica red starfish
    Common name: Indian Sea Star
    Scientific name: Fromia indica
  76. Detail of a small Thousand-pores starfish, Fromia milleporella, as it crawls on a reef in Indonesia.
    Common name: Red Starfish
    Scientific name: Fromia milleporella
  77. A Pearl Sea Star (Fromia monilis) in the Red Sea, Egypt
    Common name: Red Tile Starfish
    Scientific name: Fromia monilis
  78. Noduled sea star (Fromia nodosa) underwater on the bottom of the sea
    Common name: Red Sea Star
    Scientific name: Fromia nodosa
  79. Huge red starfish underwater in the blue clear sea. concept of holiday, vocation and relaxing
    Common name: Red Starfish
    Scientific name: Fromia polypora
  80. Egyptian sea star
    Common name: Egyptian sea star
    Scientific name: Gomophia egyptiaca
  81. Starfish
    Common name: Egg Cowrie
    Scientific name: Gomophia watsoni
  82. close up underwater photo of red slate pencil urchin
    Common name: Slate Pencil Urchin
    Scientific name: Goniocidaris tubaria
  83. Hacelia Orange seastar, underwater photo into the Mediterranean sea - (Hacelia attenuata)
    Common name: smooth starfish
    Scientific name: Hacelia attenuata
  84. Blood Star (Henricia leviuscula) photographed scuba diving in southern British Columbia
    Common name: Pacific blood star
    Scientific name: Henricia leviuscula
  85. Blood Sea Star underwater in the St. Lawrence Estuary
    Common name: Bloody Henry starfish
    Scientific name: Henricia oculata
  86. oursin crayon , Heterocentrotus mamillatus
    Common name: slate pencil urchin
    Scientific name: Heterocentrotus mamillatus
  87. A close-up picture of a Horse star, Hippasteria phrygiana is a species of sea star, aka starfish, belonging to the family Goniasteridae. Picture from the Weather Islands, Skagerrak Sea, Sweden
    Common name: arctic cushion star
    Scientific name: Hippasteria phrygiana
  88. Lollyfish or black sea cucumber (Holothuria atra) undersea, Red Sea, Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh, Nabq Bay
    Common name: lolly fish (holothurian)
    Scientific name: Holothuria atra
  89. Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
    Common name: Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria difficilis
  90. Rosafarbene Seegurke -Holothuria (Halodeima) edulis
    Common name: pinkfish sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria edulis
  91. Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber, Holothuria thomasi, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Florida
    Common name: florida sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria floridana
  92. sea cucumber
    Common name: Black sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria forskali
  93. Elephant Trunkfish sea cucumber.(Holothuria fuscopunctata) in Sogod Bay near Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines.  Underwater photography and travel.
    Common name: Brown spot sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria fuscopunctata
  94. Common name: Tiger-Tail Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria hilla
  95. Common name: impatient sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria impatiens
  96. Underwater marine life Donkey dung sea cucumber
    Common name: donkey dung sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria mexicana
  97. Holothuria nobilis at the bottom of a coral reef in the Red Sea
    Common name: Black teatfish
    Scientific name: Holothuria nobilis
  98. A large sea cucumber, Bohadschia argus, is found on the sand and rubble seafloor in Palau. This echinoderm can eject sticky, toxic tubules out of its anus that deter predators.
    Common name: Leopard Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria pardalis
  99. トラフナマコ
    Common name: Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria pervicax
  100. Common name: sand fish
    Scientific name: Holothuria scabra
  101. Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber, Holothuria thomasi, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Florida
    Common name: tiger tail sea cocumber
    Scientific name: Holothuria thomasi
  102. Sea cucumber cotton-spinner or tubular sea cucumber (Holothuria tubulosa) on sea bottom, Aegean Sea, Greece, Halkidiki
    Common name: cotton-spinner
    Scientific name: Holothuria tubulosa
  103. Black Teatfish, Holothuria (Microthele) nobilis lies on seabed with pebbles and wilted seagrass leaves glued to itself for camouflage on sunny day in sun glare, Red sea, Egypt
    Common name: Black teatfish
    Scientific name: Holothuria whitmaei
  104. A Double Sea Star (Iconaster longimanus)
    Common name: icon star
    Scientific name: Iconaster longimanus
  105. Sea cucumber underwater on the seabed
    Common name: four-sided sea cucumber
    Scientific name: Isostichopus badionotus
  106. Common name: Leather Star
    Scientific name: Leiaster coriaceus
  107. Common name: velvety sea star
    Scientific name: Leiaster speciosus
  108. yellow star linckia guildingi
    Common name: Blue Linckia Starfish
    Scientific name: Linckia guildingi
  109. Blue Sea Star - (Linckia laevigata)
    Common name: blue sea star
    Scientific name: Linckia laevigata
  110. Spotted Linckia Linckia multifora
    Common name: Blue Linckia Starfish
    Scientific name: Linckia multifora
  111. Heart urchin, Echinocardium cordatum, Raja Ampat Indonesia.
    Common name: Heart Urchin
    Scientific name: Lovenia elongata
  112. Common name: Seven-armed starfish
    Scientific name: Luidia ciliaris
  113. Luidia maculata Starfish strand on the beach
    Common name: seven armed sea star
    Scientific name: Luidia maculata
  114. Variegated sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus
    Common name: variegated urchin
    Scientific name: Lytechinus variegatus
  115. Common name: Variable Brittle Star
    Scientific name: Macrophiothrix variabilis
  116. Spiny starfish (Marthasterias glacialis) in Mediterranean Sea
    Common name: spiny starfish
    Scientific name: Marthasterias glacialis
  117. Common name: Large Burrowing Sea Cucumber
    Scientific name: Massinium magnum
  118. Test (hard shell) of red heart urchin or cake urchin, large heart urchin (Meoma ventricosa) undersea, Caribbean Sea, Cuba, Playa Cueva de los peces
    Common name: West Indian Sea Egg
    Scientific name: Meoma ventricosa
  119. Red Sea Urchins
    Common name: Red Sea Urchin
    Scientific name: Mesocentrotus franciscanus
  120. Blue Tuxedo Urchin
(Mespilia globulus)
    Common name: blue tuxedo urchin
    Scientific name: Mespilia globulus