It’s also known as the burrowing urchin
This photo was taken while on a snorkeling adventure with my wife off the coast of the island of Hawai’i. We were in the Kealakekua Bay Marine Life Conservation District, which is a marine protected area. We were with the snorkel outfit, Fair Wind, which is also who we went on the manta ray night dive with. I would highly recommend them for anyone that is interested in snorkeling off the coast of Hawai’i. As soon as we hopped into the water, we saw hundreds and hundreds of fish and an abundance of sea life. I saw a chestnut moray eel within the first minute of the snorkel, which entirely blew my mind.
I have taken photos of urchins in Hawai’i before (links at the bottom of the blog post). I was excited to see this new and unique species. This is an Indo-Pacific rock-boring urchin. It’s also known as the burrowing urchin. Its scientific name is Echinometra mathaei. It belongs to the family Echinometridae, which is characterized by non-perforated tubercles (spines) and compound ambulacral plates (which means multiple plates fuse together).
The Indo-Pacific rock-boring urchin grows to be about two inches in diameter with spines that extend from there. They are usually dark in color with white spines. The spines can also come in green and purple. The base of the spines is defined by a pale ring.
These rock-boring urchins can be found in the tropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the surface to a depth of 456 feet. They are common in Madagascar and the east coast of Africa, the Red Sea, and Hawai’i. The Indo-Pacific rock-boring urchin gets its name from the fact that it uses its spine and teeth to dig into the reef where it lives. It emerges at night to forage for its favorite food: algae.
It uses its spine and teeth to dig into the reef where it lives
Did you know?
- The way that sea urchins eat is a spectacular feat of nature. Their mouths include five calcium carbonate teeth. They also have a fleshy tongue-like structure inside their mouths. The chewing organ is known as Aristotle’s lantern, which comes from Aristotle’s description in the “History of Animals”. The structure of the mouth and teeth are so efficient that people have explored using the same design for mechanical applications
- The shell of a sea urchin is called a test.
- Most sea urchins have five pairs of gills around their mouths.
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