Sea urchins, Echinoidea, Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands Sea Urchins (Echinoidea)

This page links to photos of echinoids (sea urchins) we have seen in the Marshall Islands. As echinoids appear to be quite variable and references to them are slim, many of our identifications are tentative. We welcome corrections at uwkwaj@yahoo.com.

Measurements were not made in the field and the animals were not collected, so all sizes are rough eyeball estimates, often based on distant memories. Estimated sizes include the length of the spines.

Click on a thumbnail below to bring up a page with larger photos and information about that species; for variable species, several different thumbnails may load the same page.

Spiny urchins

Diadema savignyi	Echinometra mathaei	Echinostrephus aciculatus
Echinothrix calamaris	Echinothrix diadema	Lissodiadema lorioli
Paraselenia gratiosa	Paraselenia poehlii

Short spined urchins

Mespilia globulus	Nudechinus verruculatus	Toxopneustes pileolus
Tripneustes gratilla	Tripneustes gratilla

Pencil urchins

Chondrocidaris gigantea	Eucidaris metularia	Eucidaris metularia
Heterocentrotus mamillatus	Heterocentrotus trigonarius	Phyllacanthus imperialis

Burrowing urchins

Brissus latecarinatus	Brissus cf latecarinatus?	Clypeaster humilis
Clypeaster reticulatus	Clypeaster sp. 1	Echinolampas sp. 1
Echinoneus cyclostomus	Eupatagus rubellus	Eurypatagus ovalis
Maretia cf planulata	Maretia sp. 2	Metalia dicrana
Metalia spatagus	Metalia? sp. 1	Metalia sp. 2
Metalia sp. 3	Metalia? sp. 4	Metalia sp. 5
Metalia sp. 6	Mortonia australis	Peronella sp. 1
Peronella sp. 2	Peronella sp. 3	Peronella sp. 4
Peronella sp. 5	Peronella sp. 6	Peronella sp. 7
Peronella sp. 8	Prymnaster investigatoris