Slate-pencil Sea Urchin

Goniocidaris tubaria

Goniocidaris tubaria is a sea urchin from the Cidaridae family.
Slate-pencil sea urchin (Goniocidaris tubaria) This sea urchin was about 50 mm across and was covered with short red spines and thick pale ones. Some of the spines had dark red ridges and others seemed to have broken off. This photo shows the top side (aboral). The sea urchin appeared to have died recently and was spotted along the low tide mark on the rocky ocean shore on the southern coast. Ventral view (with 'mouth' showing) https://www.jungledragon.com/image/59832/slate-pencil_urchin_goniocidaris_tubaria.html Australia,Fall,Geotagged,Goniocidaris tubaria,Slate-pencil Sea Urchin,echinoidea,sea urchin,slate-pencil urchin

Appearance

Goniocidaris tubaria has very large spines, which have thorns. It can reach a width of up to 10 centimeters, excluding the spines.
Slate-pencil urchin (Goniocidaris tubaria) This is a shot of the oral side of the same urchin as in the previous spotting. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/59831/slate-pencil_sea_urchin_goniocidaris_tubaria.html At the centre is a complex apparatus called the aristotle's lantern, partially visible as a white triangular tooth. The apparatus is made up of muscles and 5 eversible calcareous teeth and plates that help with scraping off algae from rocks and sea floor. It is so called because the apparatus is shaped like a lantern. The individual parts are beautiful and intricate. Australia,Fall,Geotagged,Goniocidaris tubaria,Slate-pencil Sea Urchin,echinoidea,sea urchin,slate-pencil urchin

Distribution

This sea urchin lives off the coast of Australia.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goniocidaris_tubaria
http://eol.org/pages/32021697/overview
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionEchinodermata
ClassEchinoidea
OrderCidaroida
FamilyCidaridae
GenusGoniocidaris
SpeciesGoniocidaris tubaria
Photographed in
Australia