Sea Urchin Tests

Among all of the thousands of starfish on the beach are several Sea Urchin tests. The test is the shell-like portion of the urchin left when it dies. This one is, I think, a Purple Sea Urchin, even though the spines look black when you find one whole on the beach. The purple spine is a very dark purple. This dead starfish had it clasped tightly and I had to work to free it.
I'm assuming that the reason I found several of the tests is that the starfish had eaten them - a final meal, so to speak.
When alive, the urchin has neele-tipped spines covering the test.Most of the space inside the test of a sea urchin is devoted to storing unfertilized eggs. When the eggs are ripe, the female will shed hundreds of thousands of eggs. These are considered a delicacy in Japan and Greece, and are sold like ice cream in the Barbados.
The test is very, very fragile and so it is always fun to find an unbroken one.