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Echinothrix diadema

Vana

Moderate Longspined-Urchin

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Moderate Longspined-Urchin

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Vana (RR MG AT MK MT AK MH PK?), Nava (TS TW)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food, Medicine; Poisonous sting - serious

KEY FEATURES: The common black long spined urchin, with 5 bands of large spines about equal to the test diameter, and 5 bands of hair-like spines. Test to 10cm, spines to 9cm. The black spines have a distinctive bluish sheen in bright light. The test is black, as is the anal sac. The longest spines have barblets forming longitudinal ridges and the central hole is ±0.25 the total diameter of the spine. The young have banded spines, and the adults sometimes have partially banded spines.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Echinothrix calamaris has long-spine barblets in concentric rings (vs. longitudingal ridges); central cavity is >0.5x spine-Ø and easily finger-thumb crushable (vs. ±0.25x, not easily crushed); anal sac has small black and/or white spots vs. black); and lacks bluish sheen (vs. with bluish sheen).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			P

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

Echinothrix diadema (Linnaeus, 1758)
SYNONYMS: Echinus diadema

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; ECHINOIDEA; REGULARIA; Aulodonta; DIADEMATIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Food, Medicine. Comments: A subsistence food. The gonads are eaten during the summer months (Oct-Feb????)
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous sting - serious

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Echinothrix diadema.

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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