On September 15 , 2006, Norway Post has issued the marine life stamp series following to the previous edition with the featured species, Sea urchins, and Cuckoo wrasse. The issue stamps are two single stamps.
Sea Urchin
Sea urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, their shell, is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 centimetres across, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Common colors include black and dull shades of green, olive, brown, purple, and red.
Sea urchins move slowly, feeding mostly on algae, but can also feed on sea cucumbers, and a wide range of invertebrates such as mussels, polychaetes, sponges, brittle stars and crinoids. Their predator are sea otters, wolf eels, triggerfish.
The lower half of a sea urchin's body is referred to as the oral surface, because it contains the mouth, while the upper half is the aboral surface. Urchins have tube feet, which arise from the five ambulacral areas.The sea urchin builds its spicules, the sharp crystalline "bones" that constitute the animal’s endoskeleton, in the larval stage.
Population density varies by habitat with more dense populations being found in barren areas as compared to kelp stands.
Cuckoo Wrasse
The Cuckoo Wrasse (Labrus mixtus) is a medium size wrasse living in rocky areas in Atlantic waters.The male and female have different coloration.
he male coloration changes during the breeding season. At the start the head is blue with a blue body and orange pattern and blue tail. The body coloration gradually changes to an orange head and body with a blue pattern that may is more pronounced at the head.
The female has an orange head, body and tail with a black stripe on the dorsal fin broken up by a number of white spots. The female has the ability to change sex when there are no males present in the area.
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