Purple sea urchin
| Purple sea urchin | ||||||||||||
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Purple sea urchin ( Sphaerechinus granularis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sphaerechinus granularis | ||||||||||||
| ( Lamarck , 1816) |
The violet sea urchin ( Sphaerechinus granularis ) is a sea urchin found in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic .
features
The violet sea urchin has a case diameter of up to 13 cm. The ventral side is clearly flattened. The blunt spines are up to 2 cm long and are very close. The color of the spines ranges from purple to white. Pedicellariums , some of which have poison glands, sit between the spines .
Way of life
The food consists of seagrass roots and the growth as well as algae beds that cover rocks.
Occurrence
The distribution area includes the entire Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic below 2 m and up to 100 m depth. In calm water such as in the root network of the seagrass meadows, the sea urchin can already be found in shallow water. In moving water, such as on rock faces with surf, the animals are not able to hold onto the ground with their small suction feet. There the purple sea urchin is only found in deeper areas. Rock soils and sea grass meadows are settled.
swell
- ↑ a b c Helmut Göthel: Lower Animals Color Atlas Mediterranean Fauna: Lower Animals and Fish. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-7368-9 .
