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Sea urchins or urchins (/ ˈ ɜːr tʃ ɪ n z /) are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft; 2,700 fathoms). [1] Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm (1 ...
Toxopneustes pileolus, commonly known as the flower urchin, is a widespread and commonly encountered species of sea urchin from the Indo-West Pacific.It is considered highly dangerous, as it is capable of delivering extremely painful and medically significant stings when touched.
Echinus is a genus of sea urchins.Sea urchins are echinoderms that are typically spherical or flattened with a covering of spine-like structures. Sea urchins tend to be important members of their ecosystems by grazing on other organisms and stabilizing populations.
Red sea urchins are notoriously ravenous kelp-eaters and are implicated in devastating kelp beds [4] by forming grazing fronts. The intense grazing pressure exerted by urchins is an important link in a trophic cascade often observed along the west coast of North America in which sea otter predation influences urchin abundance, which in turn ...
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 ...
Diadema antillarum has a "shell," similar to most other sea urchins. What distinguishes the Diadema is the length of its spines. Most sea urchin spines are 1–3 cm, but the spines in this species are usually 10–12 cm in length, and can grow as long as 30 cm in very large individuals.
The urchins were released to help control the invasive seaweed genus Kappaphycus, also known as "smothering seaweed," which has overrun local coral. Tripneustes gratilla stays on the reef and is an effective algae grazer. [6] The urchins were bred at Anuenue Fisheries Research Center from about a million larvae. [7]
Settlement mostly occurs in autumn and winter and the largest number of juvenile urchins was found at a greater depth than the kelp zone. [ 10 ] The polychaete worm, Adyte assimilis and the copepod Pseudoanthessius liber are often found living as commensals among its spines and the parasitic copepod, Asterocheres echinola , often infests its gut.