Small, short-spined species with a distinctive appearance. The primary spines are yellow with pink tips, the secondary spines pink and the tube feet long and dark. Like a very closely related sea urchin found in the eastern states, Amblypneustes formosus, the species has a distinctive zigzag pattern of diamond-shaped patches running down the interambulacral area of the test. Rarely seen by divers, perhaps because of its small size, but is sometimes caught in dredge or trawl.
Information
Max Size: 3 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 14.4-23.2°C
Depth: 1-180m
Habitat: Rocky Reef, Seagrass
Rarity
IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (3% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution.
It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Several (7 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney
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