Echinometra oblonga

Echinometra oblonga
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Camarodonta
Family: Echinometridae
Genus: Echinometra
Species:
E. oblonga
Binomial name
Echinometra oblonga
Synonyms[1]
  • Echinometra mathaei oblonga (Blainville, 1825)
  • Echinus oblonga (misspelling)
  • Echinus oblongus Blainville, 1825
  • Ellipsechinus oblongus (Blainville, 1825)
  • Mortensenia oblonga (Blainville, 1825)

Echinometra oblonga, also called the oblong urchin or 'ina 'ele 'ele (ina= generic name for urchin, 'ele 'ele= blackish) in Hawaiian, is a very common rock boring urchin on shallow rocky shores of the tropical Indo-Pacific and Southern Africa.[2]

Description

Echinometra oblonga shows a range of color from dark purple to black. Their spines are shorter, and more blunt than other species of Echinometra.[3]

Reproduction

Echinometra oblonga, are gonochoric.[4] They fertilize externally. Their eggs are either held on the peristome or around the periproct.[4]

Habitat

Echinometra oblonga generally live in rougher-water areas of tropical reefs.[2] To protect themselves from the force of the waves, they live in the holes of the reef, but they also live on exposed reef flats.[2] As the urchin grows, they use their jaws to help enlarge holes in the reef. Their spines trap seaweed and algae from the reef, which they then transfer to the mouth.[2]

References

  1. ^ Kroh, A.; Mooi, R. (2021). "Echinometra oblonga". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 30 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d Russo, AR (1977). "Water flow and the distribution and abundance of echinoids (genus Echinometra) on an Hawaiian Reef". Marine and Freshwater Research. 28 (6): 693. doi:10.1071/mf9770693. ISSN 1323-1650.
  3. ^ McClintock, James B. (2019-10-22). "Disappearance of the rock-boring urchin Echinometra lucunter (Echinoidea: Echinodermata) in urchin-burrows along an extensive rock wall of Grotto Beach, San Salvador, Bahamas". Caribbean Journal of Science. 49 (2–3): 290. doi:10.18475/cjos.v49i2.a16. ISSN 0008-6452. S2CID 204811131.
  4. ^ a b "Echinometra oblonga, Short-spined black urchin". www.sealifebase.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-18.