''Centrostephanus coronatus'', also known as crowned sea urchin, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of sea urchin in the family

Diadematidae The Diadematidae are a family of sea urchins. Their tests are either rigid or flexible and their spines are long and hollow. * '' Astropyga'' Gray, 1825 **'' Astropyga radiata'' ( Leske, 1778), extant **'' Astropyga pulvinata'' (Lamarck, 1816), ...

. It was first described to science by

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

Professor

Addison Emery Verrill Addison Emery Verrill (February 9, 1839 – December 10, 1926) was an American invertebrate zoologist, museum curator and university professor. Life Verrill was born on February 9, 1839 in Greenwood, Maine, the son of George Washington Verrill ...

in 1867.

Description

The adults are all black, with some blue at the base of the spines. Juveniles have gray bands on their spines. The test is to in diameter. The spines are thin, hollow, brittle, and very sharp. The longest spines can be long. Five clusters of smaller spines surround the mouth on the underside of the test.

Distribution

Crowned sea urchins are found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, including the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. The species has expanded its range north in recent years. They are also found in the Galapagos Islands. They live from the low-tide line to deep. These are bottom dwellers, favoring rocky substrates and reefs.

Life history

This urchin seeks holes and crevices in the bottom when resting. The rock protects them from predators on all sides except the opening of the hole, and the spines guard that. When an individual finds an especially good fitting hole, it can brace its spines against the sides of the rock to resist being pulled out of its niche. Crowned sea urchins are nocturnal, foraging within a few meters of their shelters, to which they return at dawn. They are mostly carnivorous, feeding on sponges,

tunicates A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one tim ...

bryozoans Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

, and algae. Crowned sea urchins are

gonochoric In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are only two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric. Gonochorism c ...

, which is to say that there are two sexes, and each individual is either male or female. Spawning takes place on a monthly cycle that may be tied to tidal rhythms.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3198659 Animals described in 1867 Diadematidae