Sea potatoes primarily feed on dead organic matter found in the sand where they burrow.
Sea potatoes, despite their whimsical name, are fascinating creatures perfectly suited for life hidden beneath the seabed. As a type of sea urchin, they have developed unique methods for obtaining nutrition in their sandy environment.
What Sea Potatoes Eat
Based on observations and the provided reference, the diet of a sea potato consists of:
- Dead animals: Remains of deceased marine organisms.
- Dead plants: Decomposed plant material, likely including seaweed debris or other vegetation.
This makes them detritivores, playing an important role in recycling nutrients within their habitat.
How They Collect Food
Sea potatoes are adapted to their burrowing lifestyle. Unlike some sea urchins that graze on surfaces, sea potatoes access their food directly from the sand around them. They achieve this using specialized appendages:
- Tube Feet: These are small, flexible, tube-like structures that are part of the sea urchin's water vascular system. While many sea urchins use tube feet for movement, sea potatoes primarily utilize them for feeding within their burrows.
As the reference states, sea potatoes eat by "feeding on dead animals and plants using their tube feet". They extend their tube feet into the surrounding sand to detect and collect edible organic particles, which are then transported towards the mouth.
Living in burrows provides protection from predators and currents, allowing the sea potato to safely filter through the sandy substrate for its next meal using these highly adapted structures.
