Psammechinus miliaris (Gmelin, 1778)

Psammechinus miliaris

Description: A regular sea urchin with a somewhat flattened test and green overall colour. The tips of the spines are violet. The tube-feet are arranged in arcs of 3, visible as 3 pairs of pores corresponding with each ambulacral plate on the denuded test. Typically 5cm. in diameter.

Habitat: A typical species of bouldery sheltered shores, occasionally found sublittorally in shallow water in sheltered or slightly brackish sites such as sea lochs. Common in the circalittoral on exposed shores in Shetland.

Distribution: Found all round the British Isles north to Scandinavia and south to Morocco but absent from the Mediterranean.

Similar Species: Could be confused with Paracentrotus lividus or Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis.

Key Identification Features:


 Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). Psammechinus miliaris (Gmelin, 1778). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2016-12-08

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