Superheroes of the sea floor! No, not Aquaman..

Many of us wanted superpowers as children and some of us still do. There is an entire world at the sea floor containing organisms with superpowers. Powers that would make one capable of regeneration and ability to grow larger. Today, we look at the superheroes of the sea floor. The echinoderms.

Our class took a trip to Bamfield to explore the marine invertebrate world. One of the most interesting things we did was take a boat offshore to conduct a dredge. Dredging involves scooping up stuff like marine animals and rocks off the ocean floor. The marine animals that were scooped up were placed in a small tub. Out of the organisms we picked up, the stars of the show were clearly the echinoderms.

A diagram depicting the process of dredging.
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Echinoderms are a group of marine invertebrates (animals without a backbone) that are classified by their radial symmetry. If you cut an echinoderm through the center, the halves will look equal. Sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers are all echinoderms, each with their own unique superpower.

Sea stars are probably the most well-known echinoderms mainly because they have such an interesting shape. What you may not have known about sea stars is they can regenerate entire limbs! They are the Deadpool equivalent for marine invertebrates. Scientists have also isolated a substance called APF that allows sea stars such as Pycnopodia to drop arms in response to bodily damage. APF injected into other sea stars causes them to also drop arms! It’s safe to say if sea stars ever learn to weaponize this substance, there’ll be all our war in the echinoderm world.

Pycnopodia helianthoides, the sunflower sea star.
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Learn more about APF here.

Sea cucumbers are another echinoderm with unique characteristics. They can take up large amounts of water and can grow more than two times their size. They use water intake to change their buoyancy and move around the ocean floor. They also capable of regenerating just like sea stars! Sea cucumbers are the Hulk of marine invertebrates and come with their own unique dangers.

Image of a sea cucumber collected from dredging.
Credit: Tanvir Khaira

Sea urchins are the echinoderm that look like a children’s toy and a dangerous weapon at the same time. They have spiny needle like structures coming out of their spherical body. Their superpower is the ability to make natural armor. However, there are animals like otters that prey on sea urchins, so their armor isn’t impenetrable.

Image of a sea urchin.
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To summarize, echinoderms unique abilities make them the superheros of the sea floor. You can learn even more interesting facts about sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins by clicking on the links.

They may have another superpower, their supposed deliciousness. Sea cucumbers and sea urchin eggs are considered delicacies in some parts of the world. Learn more about it here.