Leather sea urchin
| Leather sea urchin | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the order | ||||||||||||
| Echinothurioida | ||||||||||||
| Claus , 1880 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Echinothuriidae | ||||||||||||
| Wyville Thompson , 1872 |
The leather urchins (Echinothuriidae), often called fire urchins because of their poisonous, burning spines , are a family of sea urchins (Echinoidea) that occur in tropical seas on scree or sandy bottoms and on dead reef rocks down to a depth of 285 meters.
features
Leather sea urchins have a housing, the limestone plates of which are only loosely connected to each other, which is therefore flexible and enables the animals to hide in narrow gaps. They often have a striking red / white color. Their spines are short, covered by a thin skin and inflated into a spherical shape below the tip. These spheres, surrounded by muscles, contain a poison, the composition of which is not yet known. Even light pressure on the spines causes the skin to tear and the poison to be injected. Divers who have been stung by fire sea urchins feel severe pain, which abruptly subsides after 15 to 20 minutes. The puncture sites are barely visible. Fire sea urchin stings can cause nausea, shock or psychosis .
The longer spines around the underside of the sea urchin are not poisonous.
Way of life
Leather sea urchins are predominantly nocturnal and feed on algae and sessile invertebrates . They spend the day in crevices or hidden under overhanging coral sticks. Leather sea urchins often serve as hosts for smaller animals, e.g. B. Partner shrimp . The smaller animals are protected by the spines. It is unknown whether the sea urchins benefit from it.
Genera and species
The genera and species of the family Echinothuriidae
- Genus Araeosoma Mortensen, 1903
- Araeosoma fenestratum (Thomson, 1872)
- Araeosoma violaceum Mortensen, 1903
- Araeosoma belli Mortensen, 1903
- Araeosoma parviungulatum Mortensen, 1934
- Araeosoma eurypatum Agassiz & Clark, 1909
- Araeosoma leptaleum Agassiz & Clark, 1909
- Araeosoma splendens Mortensen, 1934
- Araeosoma owstoni Mortensen, 1904
- Araeosoma coriaceum (Agassiz, 1879)
- Araeosoma tesselatum (Agassiz, 1879)
- Araeosoma paucispinum Clark, 1924
- Araeosoma thetidis (HL Clark, 1909)
- Genus Hygrosoma Mortensen, 1903
- Hygrosoma petersii (Agassiz, 1880)
- Hygrosoma hoplacantha (Wyville Thomson, 1877)
- Hygrosoma luculentum (Agassiz, 1879)
- Genus Sperosoma Koehler, 1897
- Sperosoma antillense Mortensen, 1934
- Sperosoma armatum Koehler, 1927
- Sperosoma biseriatum Doederlein, 1901
- Sperosoma crassispinum Mortensen, 1934
- Sperosoma durum Doderlein, 1905
- Sperosoma giganteum A. Agassiz & HL Clark, 1907
- Sperosoma grimaldii Koehler, 1879
- Sperosoma obscurum Agassiz & Clark, 1907
- Sperosoma quincunciale de Meijere, 1904
- Sperosoma tristichum Mortensen, 1934
- Genus Tromikosoma Mortensen, 1903
- Tromikosoma koehleri Mortensen, 1903
- Tromikosoma uranus (Wyville Thomson, 1877)
- Tromikosoma tenue (Agassiz, 1879)
- Tromikosoma australe (Koehler, 1922)
- Tromikosoma hispidum (Agassiz)
- Genus Echinothuria Woodward, 1863
- Echinothuria floris Woodward, 1863
- Genus † Retzneiosoma Kroh, 2005
- † Retzneiosoma jaseneki Kroh, 2005
- Genus Hapalosoma Mortensen, 1903
- Hapalosoma pellucidum (Agassiz, 1879)
- Hapalosoma gemmiferum Mortensen, 1934
- Genus Asthenosoma Pit, 1868
- Red Sea Fire urchin ( Asthenosoma marisrubri ) Weinberg & de Ridder. 1998
- Asthenosoma varium pit, 1868
- Asthenosoma dilatatum Mortensen, 1934
- Asthenosoma ijimai Yoshiwara, 1897
- Genus Calveriosoma Mortensen, 1934
- Calveriosoma hystrix (Thomson, 1872)
- Calveriosoma gracile (Agassiz, 1881)
swell
Individual evidence
literature
- Bergbauer, Myers, Kirschner: The Kosmos Handbook Dangerous Sea Animals , Kosmos, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-440-10945-8
Web links
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System Echinothuriidae Thomson, 1872