Scientific name: Dendraster excentricus
Taxonomy: Kingdom Animalia → Phylum Echinodermata → Subphylum Echinozoa → Class Echinoidea → Subclass Euechinoidea → Infraclass Irregularia → Subterclass Neognathostomata → Superorder Luminacea → Order Echinolampadacea → Suborder Scutelloida → Infraorder Scutelliformes → Superfamily Scutelloidea → Family Dendrasteridae → Genus Dendraster
Locations: Eastern Pacific
Group: Marine Life → Invertebrates → Sea Urchins
Yes, these are actually sea urchins. They have short, fuzz-like spines, longer on the bottom than the top. They live in large beds on the sandy bottom in 10-20 feet of water.
What washes up on the beach with the leaf-like pattern is just the test (skeleton).
Sand dollars sometimes slowly meander across the sand.
