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Aquatic and Land Animal Diversity

Aquatic Animals

What are the major groups of echinoderms?

According to one common classification, six principle groups of echinoderms (phyla Echinodermata, from the Greek terms echina, meaning “spiny,” and derma, meaning “skin”) exist: 1) class Crinoidea (sea lilies and feather stars); 2) class Asteroidea (sea stars, also called starfish); 3) class Ophiuroidea (basket stars and brittle stars); 4) class Eichinoidea (sea urchins and sand dollars); 5) class Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers); and 6) class Concentricycloidea (sea daisies that live on waterlogged wood in the deep ocean and were first discovered in 1986).