| Cidaridae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cidaris cidaris | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Cidaroida |
| Superfamily: | Cidaroidea |
| Family: | Cidaridae Gray, 1825 |
| Genera | |
Cidaridae is a family of sea urchins in the order Cidaroida.
Cidarid sea urchins are characterized by their stout skeleton : the test is thick and hard, with massive perforated tubercles (never crenulated) surrounded by a crown of secondary tubercles, but no primary tubercles in the interambulacra regions. These tubercles hold massive spines, thick, strong and often very long, and showing sometimes odd shapes (thorny spines, fans, clubs, Christmas trees [1] ...) [2] ·. [3]
The order Cidaroida is the basalmost of current sea urchins, and most of the species included in this family are abyssal, even if a handful of species remain quite common in tropical shallow waters, like Eucidaris or Phyllacanthus .
According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following genera are included in this family [4]
A now abandoned genus, Cidarites was used in the late 18th and early 19th century to describe a number of species of both cidarid and echid sea urchins. [5]
Cidaris is a genus of pencil sea urchins.
Coelopleurus is an extant genus of echinoids with fossil records dating back to the Eocene, with remains found in Europe and North America.
Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus is a species of sea urchin, the only one in the monotypic genus Hemicentrotus. It was first described by the American engineer and marine zoologist Alexander Agassiz in 1864 as Psammechinus pulcherrimus. Its range extends along the coasts of Korea and China, and in Japan from Kyūshū to Ishikari Bay. An edible species, it is harvested from Kyūshū to Fukui, in the Sea of Japan.
Cidaroida is an order of primitive sea urchins, the only living order of the subclass Perischoechinoidea. All other orders of this subclass, which were even more primitive than the living forms, became extinct during the Mesozoic.
Spatangus is a genus of heart urchins in the Spatangidae family. The genus is synonymous with the previously recognised genera Prospatangus Lambert, 1902 and Spatagus. There are nine recognised species. The type species is Spatangus purpureus Müller, 1776 by subsequent designation.
Toxopneustidae is a family of globular sea urchins in the class Echinoidea.
Psychocidaridae is a family of sea urchins in the order Cidaroida. The genus Psychocidaris is extant while the other genera are only known from fossils. The family has been in existence since the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) and the range includes Europe, Ukraine, North America, North Africa and the West Pacific.
Echinidae is a family of sea urchins in the order Echinoida. Members of the family are found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic.
Holasteroida is an order of irregular sea urchins.
Fromia is a genus of starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Eucidaris is a genus of cidaroid sea urchins known as slate pencil urchins. They are characterised by a moderately thick test, a usually monocyclic apical disc, perforate and non-crenulate tubercles and nearly straight ambulacra with horizontal pore pairs. The primary spines are few and widely spaced, stout with blunt flat tips and beaded ornamentation and the secondary spines are short and apressed. They originated in the Miocene and extant members of the genus are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean, East Pacific, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Eucidaris metularia, the ten-lined urchin, is a species of sea urchins in the family Cidaridae. It is found in shallow parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and is characterised by its sparse covering of banded, flat-tipped spines.
Cidaris blakei is a species of sea urchins of the family Cidaridae. Its armour is covered with spines of three types, one unique type being extended and fan-like, making it easily recognized. Alexander Agassiz first described it scientifically in 1878. It is present on the seabed in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas.
Cidaris mabahissae is a species of sea urchins of the Family Cidaridae. Their armour is covered with spines. Cidaris mabahissae was first scientifically described in 1939 by Ole Mortensen.
Cidaris nuda is a species of sea urchins of the Family Cidaridae. Their armour is covered with spines. Cidaris nuda was first scientifically described in 1903 by Ole Mortensen.
Chaetodiadema is a genus of sea urchins of the Family Diadematidae. Their armour is covered with spines.
The Echinothuriidae are a family of sea urchins in the order Echinothurioida. Due to their soft skeletons, most are called "leather urchins", but species in the genus Asthenosoma are also known as "fire urchins" due to their bright colors and painful, venomous sting.
Hemicidaridae is a family of extinct sea urchins characterized by large, massive, club-shaped spines.
Dermechinus is a genus of sea urchin in the family Echinidae found in deep water in the southern Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It is monotypic, with Dermechinus horridus, sometimes called the cactus urchin, being the only species.
Goniocidaris is a genus of sea urchins (Echinoidea) in the family Cidaridae and typical of the subfamily Goniocidarinae. Extant species are mostly found in Indo-Pacific seas, often living at depth.