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Echinostrephus aciculatus

Esculator Urchin

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult, Rarotonga	24KB
Image:	Adult, Tonga	56KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Esculator Urchin

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Kiribati - Lord Howe - Societies

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, reef-flat in corals and limestone.

KEY FEATURES: A small black urchin living in cylindrical pits. It esculates to the top to feed, and to the bottom to retreat out of sight. The test is circular to 30mm h.d. with the ambitus above the equator, and the longest spines on the top side (abactinal surface).

Enlarged Image of 'Echinostrephus aciculatus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Echinostrephus aciculatus Agassiz, 1863
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; ECHINOIDEA; REGULARIA; Camorodonta; STRONGYLOCENTROTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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