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The reef urchin is an important grazer on fleshy algae in the Caribbean area. Its abundance is reduced by predation by fish, especially the jolthead porgy ( Calamus bajonado ), the queen triggerfish ( Balistes vetula ), the ocean triggerfish ( Canthidermis sufflamen ) and the hogfish ( Lachnolaimus maximus ).
The water vascular system is a series of canals through which fluid moves to help propel the podia of the sea urchin. The fluid that fills the water vascular system is similar to marine water, but also has free wandering cells and organic compounds such as proteins and a high concentration of potassium ions when compared to the surrounding sea ...
Tripneustes gratilla, the collector urchin, is a species of sea urchin. Collector urchins are found at depths of 2 to 30 metres (7 to 100 ft) in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, Hawaii, the Red Sea, and The Bahamas. They can reach 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 in) in size.
The green sea urchin occurs in tropical waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. The subspecies occupy different geographical areas. L. v. variegatus occurs in the Caribbean Sea, southern Florida, the Yucatán peninsula and northern Brazil but not Barbados while L. v. carolinus is found from North Carolina southwards to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Spotting one on the Florida reef tract is a good sign that nearby corals are doing OK. These days, long-spined sea urchins are known as the gardeners of the sea. They tend the algae on the coral ...
Echinometra mathaei grows to a test diameter of about 5 centimetres (2.0 in). The colour is quite variable but the test is usually a dark colour. The spines are sometimes green and purple with purple tips or entirely green with purple tips but this sea urchin can be distinguished from other species by a characteristic pale ring at the base of each spine.
The jewel urchin does not protect itself from the sun by covering its upper surface with bits of seagrass and shell but instead, tends to hide in cracks during the day and emerge to feed at night. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Like other sea urchins, the diet is mainly algae which are scraped off the surface of rocks or chewed by the rasping mouthparts situated ...
Echinometra oblonga generally live in rougher-water areas of tropical reefs. [2] To protect themselves from the force of the waves, they live in the holes of the reef, but they also live on exposed reef flats. [2] As the urchin grows, they use their jaws to help enlarge holes in the reef.