Psammechinus microtuberculatus

Psammechinus microtuberculatus
	Psammechinus microtuberculatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Echinoidea
Order:	Camarodonta
Family:	Parechinidae
Genus:	Psammechinus
Species:	P. microtuberculatus
Binomial name
	Psammechinus microtuberculatus; (Blainville, 1825)[1]
Synonyms
	Echinus (Psammechinus) microtuberculatus Blainville, 1825; Echinus decoratus L. Agassiz, 1841; Echinus microtuberculatus Blainville, 1825; Echinus parvituberculatus Blainville, 1834; Echinus pulchellus L. Agassiz, 1841; Psammechinus parvituberculatus (Blainville, 1834); Psammechinus pulchellus (L. Agassiz, 1841);

Psammechinus microtuberculatus, also known as the green sea urchin,[2] is a species of sea urchin in the family Parechinidae.[1]

Description

This is a small, brown, herbivorous[3] sea urchin nearly spherical in shape. It has with short spines greenish or whitish in colour. It grows to a maximum diameter of 5 centimetres.[3]

Distribution

Psammechinus microtuberculatus is found in the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Adriatic Sea and Aegean Sea.[4] It also occurs throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea, though very rare.[3]

Habitat

This species occurs in the benthic zone at depths of between 1 and 685 metres.[3] It prefers to live near sandy areas, and can be found on hard bottoms of mud or rock.[5]

Parasites

Psammechinus microtuberculatus is known to host the following ectoparasites:[4]

Asterocheres minutus (Claus), (1889)
Asterocheres violaceus (Claus), (1889)

References

"WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Psammechinus microtuberculatus (Blainville, 1825)". Marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
"Psammechinus microtuberculatus". Natuurlijkmooi.net. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
"Psammechinus microtuberculatus". Sealifebase.org. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
"WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species". Marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
"Psammechinus microtuberculatus, Sea urchin". Seadb.net. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-07-21.

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[marinespecies1-1] "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Psammechinus microtuberculatus (Blainville, 1825)". Marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2012-06-27.

[2] "Psammechinus microtuberculatus". Natuurlijkmooi.net. Retrieved 2012-07-21.

[sealifebase1-3] "Psammechinus microtuberculatus". Sealifebase.org. Retrieved 2012-07-21.

[marinespecies2-4] "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species". Marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2012-07-21.

[5] "Psammechinus microtuberculatus, Sea urchin". Seadb.net. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-07-21.