section_path: Invertebrate skeletons/Echinoderms
section_name: Echinoderms
paragraph_text: Echinoderms
  
  The skeletons of echinoderms, such as starfish and sea urchins, are endoskeletons that consist of large, well-developed sclerite plates that adjoin or overlap to cover the animal's body. The skeletons of sea cucumbers are an exception, having a reduced size to assist in feeding and movement. Echinoderm skeletons are composed of stereom, made up of calcite with a monocrystal structure. They also have a significant magnesium content, forming up to 15% of the skeleton's composition. The stereome structure is porous, and the pores fill with connective stromal tissue as the animal ages. Sea urchins have as many as ten variants of stereome structure. Among extant animals, such skeletons are unique to echinoderms, though similar skeletons were used by some Paleozoic animals. The skeletons of echinoderms are mesodermal, as they are mostly encased by soft tissue. Plates of the skeleton may be interlocked or connected through muscles and ligaments. Skeletal elements in echinoderms are highly specialized and take many forms, though they usually retain some form of symmetry. The spines of sea urchins are the largest type of echinoderm skeletal structure.