The Spatangidae are a family of
heart urchin
The heart urchins or Spatangoida are an order of sea urchins.
Their body is a somewhat elongated oval in form, and is distinguished by the mouth being placed towards one end of the animal, and the anus towards the other. As a result, heart urch ...
s. There are three recognised genera within the family; ''
Granopatagus'', ''
Plethotaenia'', and ''
Spatangus''.
Additionally, ''Prospatangus'' was previously a recognised genus within the Spatangidae, but is now accepted as part of the genus ''Spatangus''.
The Spatangidae are marine heart urchins that
feed on subsurface deposits and
graze.
References
Spatangoida
Echinoderm families
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