Melon sea urchin (Echinus melo)

Melon sea urchin

Distribution : Mediterranean · Atlantic Ocean

Marine region

The melon sea urchin appears in a nineteenth-century British survey of edible marine animals. The author lists it among the sea urchins eaten in Corsica and Algeria, alongside other species associated with different European regions. Its nearly spherical outline, greenish colouring and relatively short spines distinguish it from the more familiar purple sea urchins. The passage preserves evidence of a regional food use that receives little attention today.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

The melon urchin has a large, almost spherical yellow-green test marked by paler bands. Its spines are relatively sparse: the longer olive-green spines, sometimes white-tipped, stand among shorter yellowish ones. The test may reach about 17 cm across.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

It lives on varied seabeds, often sandy, detrital or coralligenous, generally at considerable depths. It also occurs near rocky areas.

WHAT DOES IT EAT?

Its diet includes calcareous red algae as well as bryozoans, foraminiferans, small gastropods and brittle stars. Its mouth, beneath the body, gathers food from the seabed.

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