Loading ...Anyone that has had the pleasure of caring for a urchin knows the answer to this question.
“Hey- whats that orange thing in the middle there, is that it’s eye?”
Well we all know that in fact the brightly colored area in the middle of all those spikes is not the eye, but then how does this magnificent creature sense its environment?
National Geographic recently covered a Duke University study which answers this question:
The spiky body of a sea urchin acts as one big, spine-covered eye, confirms a new study that tested how well urchins can see.
Sea urchins, like their close relatives the sea stars (starfish), don’t technically have eyes. Instead, the ball-like invertebrates detect light striking their spines and compare the beams intensities to get a sense of their surroundings.
Find the rest of the article here.
So next time you decide to pet your long spine urchin, remember he can see you coming.
