Arbacia lixula
| Long-spined sea urchin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Arbacia lixula | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukarya |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Arbacioida |
| Family: | Arbaciidae |
| Genus: | Arbacia |
| Species: | A lixula |
| Binomial name | |
| Arbacia lixula (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
The Black Sea Urchin, Arbacia lixula is a Sea Urchin found on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and Macaronesian Islands (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands), and less commonly, on the Atlantic coast of Western Africa and the Brazilian coast. It is found typically at shallow waters, at depths from 0 to 30 m, in rocky shores. It has a good resistance to hydrodynamism due to a good attachment strength to rocks.
This species feeds mainly on crustose red algae and small filamentous algae. In a marine reserve in the Mediterranean, its population increased by a factor of over ten between 1983 and 1992, from eight individuals per square metre to a hundred individuals. It is thought that higher sea water temperatures favour this species. When it was excluded from an area of the reserve, the density of filamentous algae increased.[1]
References
- ↑ Uthicke, Sven; Schaffelke, Britta; Byrne, Maria (2009). "A boom–bust phylum? Ecological and evolutionary consequences of density variations in echinoderms". Ecological monographs 79: 324. doi:10.1890/07-2136.1.
See also
- Echinoids Excellent photo of the test the same site.