Asthenosoma varium (Fire Urchin) | |
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Species: | A. varium
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Binomial name | |
Asthenosoma varium (Grube 1868)
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Asthenosoma varium is a sea urchin (an echinoderm, a member of the phylum that also includes star fish ). Growing up to 22 cm (9 in.) in diameter, it lives on sand and rubble sea bottoms in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Australia and Southern Japan. Its venom tipped spines, with distinctive globular swellings below the tip, can inflict a painful sting if handled; the pain lasts as long as several hours. With its reddish color, this has given it the common name Fire Urchin.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Fire_urchin_closeup.jpg/220px-Fire_urchin_closeup.jpg)
It plays host to the commensal shrimp Periclemenes colemani and the zebra crab, Zebrida adamsii.[1][2][3]
References
edit- ^ T. Gosliner, D. Behrens & G. Williams (1996). Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific. p. 271.
- ^ Matteo Guardini & Massimo Boyer. "Fire Urchin". World Database of Marine Species. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
- ^ Paul Humann & Ned DeLoach (2010). Reef Creature Indentification: Tropical Pacific. p. 448.