Notched Sand Dollar
Mellita quinquiesperforata
The classic five-holed Florida sand dollar, flat and pale with a neat petal flower on top.
- Typical size
- 2–4 in
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Collecting
- Restricted
- Handling
- May be alive
If it is brown, fuzzy, or moving, it is alive — put it back in the water. Only white, bleached, empty tests should be collected, and some parks prohibit even that.
How to tell it apart
- Five elongated slots (lunules) through the test
- Five-petal pattern on the upper face
- Flat, thin, chalky white when bleached
Found one?
Photograph it and BeachNut will rank the likely matches, then log it to your collection.
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