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 penny?  Sand shilling?  These are possibilities but, in fact, sand dollars have no indigenous British names because they do not occur there

  black dot

ANIMATION of snail meeting SAND DOLLAR
© 2010 Thomas Carefoot

To learn about west-coast SAND DOLLARS: select a topic from the sand-dollar menu at the top of the page

OR: play the ANIMATION of the snail meeting the SAND DOLLAR


  black dot

Phylum Echinodermata  (lit. “spiny skin” G.)

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

  black dot