Heart Urchin
Echinocardium cordatum
Length up to 8cm

A distinctive sea-urchin. Most familiar as the smooth, pale brown and potato-like test of the dead animal which is washed up on the tideline. In life, it is covered by a dense mat of fine spines, most of which are directed backwards. Burrows in sand and sometimes found near surface at low tide on sandy beaches. Widespread and locally common around the coasts of Britain and Ireland.