Sterechinus

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Sterechinus
Sea urchins, Sterechinus neumayeri.jpg
Sterechinus neumayeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Echinoida
Family: Echinidae
Genus:Sterechinus
Koehler, 1901 [1]
Species
See text

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.

A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, as well as viruses, in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

Sea urchin class of echinoderms

Sea urchins or urchins are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres. Their tests are round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across. Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with their tube feet, and sometimes pushing themselves with their spines. They feed primarily on algae but also eat slow-moving or sessile animals. Their predators include sea otters, starfish, wolf eels, and triggerfish.

Family is one of the eight major hierarcical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy; it is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as being the "walnut family".

Contents

Description

Members of the genus Sterechinus have compound ambulacral plates that are trigeminate (composed of three elements). These plates have a primary tubercle articulating with a spine on the middle element, a small secondary tubercle in the interambulacral groove on one side of it and 3 pairs of pores on the other. The tube feet are connected to these pores in the living animal and the pore pairs are arranged in a vertical arc. The sutures between the plates are deeply indented. The area of narrow plates around the mouth is small and the buccal notches are shallowly grooved. [2]

Ambulacrum

An ambulacrum is an architectural term for the atrium, courtyard, or parvise in front of a basilica that is surrounded by arcades or colonnades, often containing a fountain, and is surrounded by trees.

Species

The type species of this genus is Stirechinus scillae which was first described from a fossil by Pierre Desor in 1856. Stirechinus scillae lived from the Late Miocene to the Plio-Pleistocene and further fossils have since been found in France, Sicily and Malta. None of the fossilized urchins so far discovered had any apical plates. [2]

Pierre Jean Édouard Desor German-Swiss geologist

Pierre Jean Édouard Desor was a German-Swiss geologist and naturalist.

The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch.

The term Plio-Pleistocene refers to an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5 mya to about 12 kya. Nominally, the Holocene epoch—the last 12 thousand years—would be excluded, but most Earth scientists would probably treat the current times as incorporated into the term "Plio-Pleistocene"; see below.

Since then, other members of the genus have been described, all from the waters around Antarctica. The World Register of Marine Species lists the following extant species in the genus: [1]

Ole Theodor Jensen Mortensen, also known as Theodor Mortensen was a Danish scientist and professor at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen. He specialized in sea urchins (Echinoidea) and provided an enormous marine collection to the museum. He collected many sea urchin species on his expeditions between 1899-1930.

<i>Sterechinus neumayeri</i> species of echinoderm

Sterechinus neumayeri, the Antarctic sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Echinidae. It is found living on the seabed in the waters around Antarctica. It has been used as a model organism in the fields of reproductive biology, embryology, ecology, physiology and toxicology.

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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.

Echinothurioida order of echinoderms

The Echinothurioida are an order of sea urchins in the class Echinoidea. Echinothurioids are distinguished from other sea urchins by the combination of a flexible test and hollow spines. The membrane around the mouth contains only simple plates, in contrast to the more complex mouth parts of their close relatives, the Diadematoida. They are nearly all deepsea dwellers.

Camarodonta order of echinoderms

The Camarodonta are an order of globular sea urchins in the class Echinoidea. The fossil record shows that camarodonts have been in existence since the Lower Cretaceous.

Psychocidaridae family of echinoderms

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 family of echinoderms

Echinidae is a family of sea urchins in the order Echinoida. Members of the family are found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic.

Abatus elongatus is a species of sea urchin of the family Schizasteridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It came from the genus Abatus and lives in the sea. Abatus elongatus was first scientifically described in 1836 by Koehler.

Abatus shackletoni is a species of sea urchin of the family Schizasteridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It came from the genus Abatus and lives in the sea. Abatus shackletoni was first scientifically described in 1911 by Koehler.

Amphipneustes koehleri is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It is placed in the genus Amphipneustes and lives in the sea. Amphipneustes koehleri was first scientifically described in 1905 by Ole Mortensen.

Amphipneustes lorioli is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It is placed in the genus Amphipneustes and lives in the sea. Amphipneustes lorioli was first scientifically described in 1901 by Koehler.

Amphipneustes similis is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It is placed in the genus Amphipneustes and lives in the sea. Amphipneustes similis was first scientifically described in 1936 by Ole Mortensen, Danish zoologist.

Aspidodiadema jacobyi is a small sea urchin in the family Aspidodiadematidae. It lives in tropical seas at great depths. Aspidodiadema jacobyi was first scientifically described in 1880 by Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, an American scientist.

Pelanechinus is an extinct genus of sea urchins in the order Echinothurioida. It is placed in the family Pelanechinidae and is in the stem group of echinoids.

<i>Eucidaris</i> genus of echinoderms

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.

Echinothuriidae family of echinoderms

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.

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.

Aporocidaris is a genus of sea urchins in the family Ctenocidaridae. Several species are found in deep water in circum-Antarctic locations.

Urticinopsis antarctica is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. It is found in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

Pseudocentrotus depressus, commonly known as the pink sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin, one of only two species in the genus Pseudocentrotus. It was first described in 1864 by the American marine zoologist Alexander Agassiz as Toxocidaris depressus, having been collected during the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition undertaken by Captain Cadwalader Ringgold and later Captain John Rodgers.

References

  1. 1 2 Kroh, Andreas (2010). Kroh A, Mooi R, eds. "Sterechinus Koehler, 1901". World Echinoidea Database. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  2. 1 2 Stirechinus Desor, 1856 The Natural History Museum. Retrieved 2012-01-09.


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