Pourtalesia aurorae
| Pourtalesia aurorae | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pourtalesia aurorae | ||||||||||||
| Koehler , 1926 |
Pourtalesia aurorae is a representative of the irregular sea urchins from the family Pourtalesiidae. The benthic species inhabits the soft sediments in the deep sea and has been found in the Antarctic Ocean at depths between 442 and 16,000 m.
features
The Pourtalesiiden are irregular sea urchins, so the animals are secondary bilaterally symmetrical . They reached a length of 57 mm. Compared to other species of the genus, the animals are relatively wide, so that the width corresponds to about 65% of the length of the animal. The flanks are strongly convex. Posteriorly, the testa ends in a conical rostrum that is surrounded by a broad subanal fasciole. The oral side is smooth. A plastron keel is missing.
Aristotle's lantern , which is typical for most sea urchins and is useful for taking up and chopping up food particles, is missing in these animals, as is the case with the other representatives of the holasteroids.
ecology
The animals are detritus eaters who eat the sea snow that has settled down from the upper water layers . They eat the sediment sludge and filter out the nutrients that they can use.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schultz, Heinke AG: Handbook of Zoology. Echinoidea: with bilateral symmetry. Irregularia. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, Berlin, ISBN 3-11-036853-6 , p. 131 .
- ^ WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Pourtalesia aurorae Koehler, 1926. Retrieved May 1, 2019 .