Urchins...and Other Random Pics

[Donya]

It's time for me to admit I have a new addiction forming on top of my existing ones: urchins. I went to a store I haven't been to before this morning planning to get a Eucidaris tribuloides and instead walked out with two of the devils and another urchin that pushed my OMGWANT button in a horrible way. I'm usually pretty good at not letting that button get pushed, but clearly having been jabbed for the first time recently has made me eager to increase the odds of a repeat. Got some funny looks at the register walking out with three urchins and a bottle of Amquel, but I'm used to that with my strange buying habits.

Eucidaris tribuloides:

Detail of the one on the right:

And the third urchin:

It might be a Lytechinus variegatus that lacks some pigments but I'm not too sure at the moment. I've read about the existence of such things but haven't seen a photo matched to a species name I trust and I'm not seeing obvious signs of modified tube feet that look like little white balls. Of course, white on white is not exactly easy to see...it's proving difficult for me to tell what exactly is going on between the pigmented spines.

...and then I just got a bit carried away with the camera. Here are my other two urchins, L. variegatus and E. metularia respectively:

And other random stuff!

Detail of Nerite:

Conch face (Strombus luhuanus):

Bunodosoma cavernata:

Heteractis aurora:

Mr. Hairylegs (Dardanus megistos):

Clibanarius digueti:

Peppermint shrimp:

 

[lewiss]

Woo Donya those photo's are great! So many inverts Lol.

 

[bae1994]

Very nice I'm not good with Latin names are they pencil urchins

 

[Donya]

I'm pretty certain now that the reddish purple & white urchin is a Lytechinus variegatus lacking the yellow/green pigments. Took me going in with a flashlight after lights out, but I see clear, round, wiggly things around the base of some of the spines that were invisible during the day (probably the modified tube feet I was looking for). Everything else as far as spine arrangement and location of the reddish pigment matches exactly.

Just realized both of my limpets are also in one of those photos! Sneaky little things.

Woo Donya those photo's are great! So many inverts Lol.

Thanks! Hoping to snap some more today of the ones that went into hiding on me yesterday.

Very nice I'm not good with Latin names are they pencil urchins

Yep, E. metularia and E. tribuloides are pencil urchins, also sometimes going under the label mine/club urchins. Lytechinus urchins tend to be called pincushions, but I think some other genera also fall under that name.

 

[lljdma06]

Wanted to give this thread its due. Very nice inverts, Donya. Good pictures too. The third urchin is very unusual. Did you ever get a positive id?

Liz

 

[seffieuk]

Great photos as always, but the star of the show for me is Mr Hairlegs, as usual I think he should have his own thread

 

[Donya]

Well those extra photos I was planning to take will have to wait. The tank with most of the stuff I was going to dig out for a look has been a bit...uh..white. I guess this is the one downside of urchins: they sometimes do what they do to make little urchins when you're not expecting it, and boy is it a mess! Did the best I could to avoid doing a WC for a bit since I know there were two individuals involved (the green and red urchins) but there's only so long a nano can be dragged along by chemical filtration to keep levels in check. It started to clear immediately after a WC last night, which wasn't too big, so hopefully I didn't suck out too many urchinlets if any were even produced by the event. I'm wondering if a contributing factor is that I mucked up my bulb choices on that tank somehow (needless to say the photos had some help from other light) and it is SOOOOO blue right now. I've heard/read anacdotes that extended hours of incredibly blue lighting will prompt spawning in some animals, but I never gave much credit to it. I don't know...perhaps a bit of that voodoo and a big tub that the parents can be removed from afterwards is the way to do it properly.

Did you ever get a positive id?

Yep! I finally got a clear view of the little grabby tube feet balls that were hiding before, so it's definitely a Lytechinus variegatus like the green one. Bit for bit an exact matchs on everything except color. I doubt the sudden tank white-out was a coincidence!

Great photos as always, but the star of the show for me is Mr Hairlegs, as usual I think he should have his own thread

I will have to get a video of him one of these days. The way he and the others charge around sometimes is a hoot.