| Diadema | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Diadema setosum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Diadematoida |
| Family: | Diadematidae |
| Genus: | Diadema Gray, 1825 [1] |
| Species | |
Diadema is a genus of sea urchins of the family Diadematidae. [1]
It is one of the most abundant, widespread, and ecologically important shallow water genera of tropical sea urchins. It is found in all tropical oceans, although is ubiquitous in the Indo-Pacific region, where it inhabits depths down to 70 m. However each species inhabits roughly separate areas of ocean.
Speciation within the genus can be difficult to confirm, partly due to hybridisation, which is at least known to occur between Diadema savignyi and Diadema setosum .
The species vary in types of sea bed they inhabit, with Diadema savignyi inhabiting sandy beds and back reef where damaged; while Diadema setosum can also commonly be found among seagrass.
The fossil record of Diadema is extremely poor, consisting only of spines that possibly belong to the genus, some of which go back to the Miocene, 5 to 25 million years ago.
According to World Register of Marine Species :
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
 | Diadema africanum (Rodríguez, Hernández, Clemente & Coppard, 2013) | Western Africa |
 | Diadema antillarum (Philippi, 1845) | Gulf of Mexico |
| Diadema ascensionis (Mortensen, 1909) | Central tropical Atlantic | |
 | Diadema mexicanum (Agassiz, 1863) | West coast of tropical Americas |
| Diadema palmeri (Baker, 1967) | South-west Pacific, especially New Zealand | |
 | Diadema paucispinum (Agassiz, 1863) | Central Pacific, and possibly North Indian Ocean and other zones |
 | Diadema savignyi (Michelin, 1845) | Tropical Indo-Pacific |
 | Diadema setosum (Leske, 1778) | Tropical Indo-Pacific |
The diadema urchin or blue-black urchin is a species of tropical sea urchin, member of the Diadematidae family.
Echinothrix is a genus of sea urchins which was first described in 1853 by Wilhelm Peters, a German naturalist and explorer.
Echinothrix calamaris, known commonly as the banded sea urchin or double spined urchin among other vernacular names, is a species of sea urchin in the family Diadematidae.
Diadema antillarum, also known as the lime urchin, black sea urchin, or the long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Diadematidae.
Diadema setosum is a species of long-spined sea urchin belonging to the family Diadematidae. It is a typical sea urchin, with extremely long, hollow spines that are mildly venomous. D. setosum differs from other Diadema with five, characteristic white dots that can be found on its body. The species can be found throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from Australia and Africa to Japan and the Red Sea. Despite being capable of causing painful stings when stepped upon, the urchin is only slightly venomous and does not pose a serious threat to humans.
Heterocentrotus mamillatus, commonly known as the slate pencil urchin, red slate pencil urchin, or red pencil urchin, is a species of tropical sea urchin from the Indo-Pacific region.
Echinometra mathaei, the burrowing urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Echinometridae. It occurs in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific region. The type locality is Mauritius.
Sterechinus is a genus of sea urchins in the family Echinidae. All living members of the genus are found in the waters around Antarctica but the first species described in the genus was a fossil and was found in Europe.
Tripneustes is a genus of sea urchins belonging to the family Toxopneustidae.
Echinometra viridis, the reef urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Echinometridae. It is found on reefs in very shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Dorippe frascone, the urchin crab or carrier crab, is a small species of crab in the family Dorippidae that was first described scientifically by J.F.W. Herbst, in 1785. It is found in the Red Sea and parts of the western and eastern Indian Ocean. It often has a symbiotic relationship with a long-spined sea urchin and carries one around on its carapace.
Diadema paucispinum, the long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Diadematidae. It is found in the western Indo-Pacific Ocean and in Hawaii and other east Pacific islands.
Diadema mexicanum is a species of long-spined sea urchin belonging to the family Diadematidae. It is native to the Pacific coast of Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.
Diadema savignyi is a species of long-spined sea urchin belonging to the family Diadematidae. Common names include long-spined sea urchin, black longspine urchin and the banded diadem. It is native to the east coast of Africa, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. It was first described in 1829 by the French naturalist Jean Victoire Audouin. The specific epithet honours the French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny who described many new marine species from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. The type locality is Mauritius.
Toxopneustes elegans is a species of sea urchin endemic to Japan. Like the closely related flower urchin, they are venomous.
Athanas areteformis is a species of small alpheid shrimp from the Indo-West Pacific.
Chondrocidaris is a genus of sea urchins of the family Cidaridae described in 1863 by Alexander Agassiz. There are two living species and several fossil species dating as far back as the Miocene.
Lytechinus pictus, commonly known as the painted urchin, is a sea urchin in the family Toxopneustidae. It occurs on shallow reefs in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of California, Central America and South America as far south as Ecuador.
Parechinus angulosus, the Cape urchin, is a sea urchin in the family Parechinidae endemic to southern Africa. It is the only species in the genus Parechinus.
Mespilia globulus, the globular sea urchin, sphere sea urchin, or tuxedo urchin, is a sea urchin occurring in tropical shallow reef habitats. The specific name refers to a small ball or spherule, describing its overall shape/morphology. It is the only species in the genus Mespilia.
| Authority control databases: National |
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