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Heart Sea Urchin

Eurypatagus ovalis

Photo by Blogie
Published on Project Noah
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7.08795, 125.66

Field Notes

Description:

Also called Scrubber Sea Urchin.

Notes:

Spotted this at a depth of about 10m during a night dive. The fine spikes are more like hairs -- I don't think they can prick at all, but I'm not sure whether or not they can prick (I didn't want to find out!).

Reference Links:

Eurypatagus ovalis - Information on Eurypatagus ovalis

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)
Blogie
DonnaPomeroy - The online resources don't seem to be very helpful when it comes to the genus Leptodiadema...
DonnaPomeroy
I wonder if there are other species in the genus. I knew it wasn't L. purpureum, since that's endemic to Hawaii. They say the spines have very painful toxin in them, so I agree with you... Don't touch!
Blogie
Gracias, harsuame! Thanks for the suggestion, DonnaPomeroy! It does look similar, but the pictures of L. purpureum I've found on the net show spines that are evenly colored. The ones here are kind of banded, aren't they?
DonnaPomeroy
That's very beautiful. It looks very similar to the Fine-spined Urchin, found in Hawaii (Leptodiadema purpureum). The skeleton certainly indicates it is an Echinoderm of some sort.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Mission
Davao Gulf Marine Life

Tags

Photographed
PublishedMarch 15, 2012

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