Echinoderms Explained: Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and the Ocean’s Weirdest Hydraulics

Echinoderms Explained: Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and the Ocean’s Weirdest Hydraulics

From Wildly Curious by Katy Reiss & Laura Fawks Lapole

February 3, 2026 · 50 min · Season 13 · Episode 9

About this episode

This episode explores the unique characteristics and hydraulic systems of echinoderms, including sea stars and sea urchins.

Send us Fan Mail Subscribe and unleash your inner science goblin. We see you. We respect it. In this deep-dive episode of Wildly Curious, Katy Reiss and Laura Fawks Lapole crack open the bizarre, beautiful world of echinoderms—the “spiny-skinned” sea creatures that are hard on the outside, squishy on the inside, and powered by a literal hydraulic system. We’re talking sea stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, brittle stars, feather stars, and sea cucumbers—a group that looks like it shouldn’t mak...

People in this episode

Hosts: Katy Reiss, Laura Fawks Lapole

Topics covered

  • echinoderms
  • sea stars
  • sea urchins
  • marine biology
  • hydraulic systems

Keywords

  • echinoderms
  • sea stars
  • sea urchins
  • marine life
  • hydraulics

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Wildly Curious

Places: ocean

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