Urchins. What are they good for?

[nanodude87]

Nice pics... Very pretty. I looked around and from what I see it appears as though they get 8" though.

My favorite reef urchin is Salmacis bicolor. They stay small, and don't carry frags around. Only problem with them, IME, is they love to eat gorgonians.

 

[Breakin Newz]

Nice SDguy! Might have to get one!

 

[SDguy]

Nice pics... Very pretty. I looked around and from what I see it appears as though they get 8" though.

Either I got the latin name wrong :nerd: , or they don't grow in captivity. A local reefer had one for a few years, never got bigger than 2-3" diameter. Same with mine.

I've seen longspines grow like weeds, comparatively...

 

[SDguy]

Actually, where did you even find a max size listing? I'm having a heck of a time finding one....

 

[Viva'sReef]

Check out my Avatar.....thats good eatin right there

 

[Viva'sReef]

 

[SDguy]

Smashing them open while snorkling is fun... you get some scary big wrasses showing up really fast though :bigsmile:

 

[Viva'sReef]

I kicked one before with an open toe flipper while harpooning a large grouper. I guess I got overly excited about seeing the big fish. About 25 broken tips in my big toe, some electronics needle tip tweezers and a LOT of patience to get them all out. UGH. Almost ruined my Vacation because my toe was sore and infected for at least a week.

 

[SDguy]

I feel your pain. I ripped the skin off my big toe the same way on a rock, day 2 into my vacation. I can only imagine urchin spines! Yikes!

 

[nanodude87]

Actually, where did you even find a max size listing? I'm having a heck of a time finding one....

I guess this isn't Salmacis bicolor but just Salmacis... I wonder if it's the same difference though since they have multiple colors listed under the same urchin? I have no idea... lol Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Pincushion Urchin, Red

 

[SDguy]

Oh, ok, yeah, I have not seen the kind I have any bigger than 3", and a lot of locals here have them at this point. I nonetheless had to give mine away after it mowed down 1/3 of my gorg...

 

[twinspots_goby]

Here's a picture of mine

we call it pencil urchin here.