Snail's Odyssey: Echinodermata-Sand dollars

Echinodermata
Sand dollars

There are several species of sand dollars that occur on the west coast from Baja California to southern California, but only one species is common north of there, Dendraster excentricus.

NOTE they are called sand dollars in North America, but what are they called in Great Britain? Sand pennies? Sand shillings? These are possibilities but, in fact, sand dollars have no local British name because they do not occur there

ANIMATION of the snail's odyssey © Thomas Carefoot 2026

map used by the snail in A SNAIL'S ODYSSEY

To navigate through the ODYSSEY:

Select a TOPIC from the menu at the top of the screen
OR: play the animation to the left
OR: follow the snail's ODYSSEY by CLICKING on any X-marked invertebrate on the map above

Phylum Echinodermata (lit. “spiny skin” G.) including sea lilies, sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and brittle stars

Class Echinoidea (lit. “like a spine” G.), including sea urchins Mesocentrotus, Strongylocentrotus, and sand dollars Dendraster