Arrowhead Sand Dollar
Sand dollars are one of the most sought after beach treasures, but live sand dollars are not bright white and that is one way to tell if your treasure is living or dead (and collectible).
Sand dollars are echinoderms (Phylum: echinodermata) and they are closely related to sea stars (starfish), sea cucumbers and sea urchins and when they are living, their bodies are fuzzy with hairy spines which gives them a brown color.
They catch their food and move about the ocean floor using the hairy spines that cover their bodies. They also use the hair, or cilia, to dig under the sand to hide from predators or keep from being washed away in rough water.
When I visited Sanibel Island, Florida, I was able to find many sand dollars just under the sand off the shore. They were living in a large group and the ones I saw were about as large as a half dollar.
In fact over 600 sand dollars can live in an area as small as one square yard! (Info taken from the Monterey Bay Aquarium website).
Not all sand dollars are flat. The sea cookie and sea biscuit are puffy, but also have the star design.
Never collect living sea creatures. It disrupts the ecosystem and causes you to have a stinky dead creature to deal with. The whole sand dollars I have were purchased at a shell store in Florida, but I do have pieces of sand dollars found on the beaches of Florida. They are an interesting part of my seashell collection.
I assume though that the sand dollars sold in stores were actually harvested alive! Or not?
You know Maya, since I have been researching shells (and sand dollars) I have been wondering about that myself. I bought mine many years ago, and never gave it a thought…..but all these stores that sell shells make me curious about the entire industry. I will have to check into it closer.