#2496 - Fellaster zelandiae - Snapper Biscuit
AKA Cake Urchin.
Fellaster zelandiae is and was endemic to Aotearoa - the other species, incisa, was found in Australian waters.
Sand dollars (also known as sea cookies, sea biscuits, or pansy shells) are flat, burrowing sea urchins in the order Clypeasteroida. They first evolved from other irregular echinoids in the Jurassic, and live in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, using their velvety spines to burrow through soft sediments, feeding on algae and organic matter. Some species prop themselves up sideways to feed on passing plankton.
Unlike most echinoids, sand dollars have developed a secondarily bilateral symmetry, including an anus towards the rear of the animal instead of centrally on top, as part of their evolution into burrowing animals.
Some sand dollar larvae have been shown to clone themselves if they detect the mucus of predatory fish in the water.
Whanganui Regional Museum, New Zealand