Pencil sea urchin (Stylocidaris affinis)

Pencil sea urchin

Distribution : Mediterranean · Atlantic Ocean

Marine region

A routine mooring inspection in Porto-Pollo harbour, Corsica, led to an unexpected discovery on 16 July 2012: a sea urchin with thick, banded spines resting at a depth of just three metres. The observation was submitted to the DORIS identification forum, where Vincent Maran suggested a red lance urchin. Its shallow location was unusual for a species normally associated with deeper seabeds. The observer proposed that it might have been discarded by a fishing vessel, but no direct evidence established how it arrived there.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

The red lance urchin has a reddish test and thick, rough, tapered brown spines marked with pale bands. The main spines are approximately as long as the diameter of its test, sometimes slightly longer. The grey lance urchin generally has longer, more uniformly coloured spines. Organisms growing on older spines may conceal the bands.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

It lives on rocky, coralligenous or soft seabeds, generally at depths of several tens of metres or more. Its range extends far below normal recreational diving depths.

WHAT DOES IT EAT?

It grazes on algae and other organisms attached to the seabed. Its mouth is underneath the body, among the small tube feet that help it move.

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