Fun Flower Urchin Facts For Kids

There are a vast amount of organisms that constitute our ocean’s ecosystem. These organisms come in a variety of shapes, colors and possess unique characteristics.

Some of these roam freely, while some stay in their places. One such organism constituting this ecosystem is a flower urchin (toxopneustes pileolus). This inanimate and spiny looking object has contracting features that make it beautiful yet deadly and poisonous at the same time.

Sea urchins looks absolutely majestic in the coral reefs with the flower like pedicellariae that can be of white or purple color.

The flower like pedicellariae has a venom gland and sac that is used by the creature to prey on the different marine animals. The pedicellariae, when open, resemble a flower, hence being responsible for the name flower urchin.

The enzymes that are present in the flower urchin venom have the capability to cause severe pain and muscle contraction, that leads to cell death.

While the flower urchin sting may not cause the death of the marine animal but is powerful enough to cause severe pain and slow down the creature that has been stung. Some of the unique characteristics of this venomous species that stings are mentioned below.

After reading these facts about the toxic flower urchin, do check out these brain coral facts and sea squirt facts as well.

Flower Urchin Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a flower urchin?

A flower urchin (toxopneustes roseus) is a sea animal that belongs to the phylum Echinodermata. It is from one of the few hundred species of sea urchins found today.

One can easily spot these unique creatures by looking at their visuals. These sea animals are found in the colors of purple, olive black.

one may find them attractive looking at their appearance. You have to be careful since the pedicellarial venom that flower sea urchin use to protect themselves from the predators are directly related to the size of  pedicellariae.

What class of animal does a flower urchin belong to?

The flower urchin (toxopneustes roseus) belongs to the class echinoidea (sea animal), owing to their features of radial symmetry and external fertilization. Sea urchins' gametes fuse outside their bodies, and flower sea urchin possess hard skeletons that can be well preserved as fossils.

How many flower urchins are there in the world?

There are close to 200 species of flower sea urchins that inhabit the oceans of the world. The sea urchin flower population is extremely difficult to determine due to the sheer area that the oceans cover on earth.

Where does a flower urchin live?

Flower sea urchin habitat is exclusively the ocean and more specifically the regions in ocean beds that are covered with detritus.

What is a flower urchin's habitat?

Flower urchins are found well in the tropical region of the Indo-West Pacific. On the globe, sea urchins are found in various places such as Okinawa in Japan, Tasmania in Africa, Australia, Red Sea, Africa East Coast, and Crook Islands.

These echinoderms are benthic. Sea urchins are found at around 300 ft depth from the water's surface between coral reefs, seagrasses, coral rubbles, sand; most of these are partially buried in the ocean bed that acts as their substrate, and their upper bodies are covered in debris.

Who do flower urchins live with?

Sea urchins are found along with other habitats of the sea, such as sea corals and dead fragments of other echinoderms, seashells, and seaweeds. Flower sea urchins undergo a phenomenon called heaping by which they cover themselves between other creatures and the upper half of the body with debris.

Venomous sea urchins firmly hold their bodies between these using their tube feet.

How long does a flower urchin live?

A flower sea urchin is amongst the longest living creatures on the planet. The lifespan of the sea urchin can extend to 100 or even 200 years.

How do they reproduce?

Flower urchins reproduce externally. This phenomenon exhibited by them is called external fertilization, in which the gametes fuse outside their bodies. In this type of flower sea urchin, the female lays eggs in the external environment, and these eggs are then fertilized by the male.

What is their conservation status?

Sea urchin species fall in the category of least conservative category in the IUCN Red List. This means that the population of flower sea urchin species is stable in its natural habitat and no serious conservation efforts are required.

Flower Urchin Fun Facts

What do flower urchins look like?

Flower urchins exhibit radial symmetry and have globe-like body shape that is covered with numerous long spines. Sea urchin has a tough shell outside which has five segments separated from one another. On either side of these interambulacral segments, there's a presence of tube feet.

Sea urchin species has a central mouth surrounded by soft tissue called peristome. These peristomes have calcareous teeth. Opposite to the mouth is the anus surrounded by periproct.

How cute are they?

Sea urchin creatures may have an appealing appearance because of their color and shape, but they are not the creatures you want to encounter casually!

How do they communicate?

The sea flower urchin has a nervous system that extends from its mouth to the tube feet present on the spine, which is small and tubular in appearance.  These tube structures enable sea flower urchins to move slowly using the mechanism of hydraulics. But their sting is full of venom that can lead to severe pain on being bitten.

How big is a flower urchin?

Toxopneustes roseus can reach a height of 60 in (152.4 cm) and a diameter of approximately 6-8 in 15.2-20.3 cm).

How fast can flower urchins move?

These creatures move very slowly using their tube feet and their spines across the ocean bed.    

How much does a flower urchin weigh?

The weight of a typical sea flower urchin can range from 1-1.5 lb (0.45-0.68 kg) on average.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Even though male and female urchin are separate sexes, that is, they have separate male and female gonads, one cannot just identify them as separate sex visually. So they do not have separate names.

What would you call a baby flower urchin?

The newborn sea flower urchins are called pluteus.

What do they eat?

Sea flower urchin mostly feed on algae and organic detritus bryozoans.

Are they harmful?

Sea flower urchins are an especially dangerous type of sea urchins. Globiferous pedicellariae are a  part of this creature's body.

These objects are responsible for injecting venom in defense against predators. So one must stay away from these creatures and not casually try playing with them! The devil's urchin is a deadly urchin for divers to encounter too although not enough to kill technically, can be fatal.

Would they make a good pet?

Flower urchins are dangerous creatures not to be petted just like our cute and perhaps harmless dogs and cats since these have deadly defense mechanisms against their predators.

Did you know...

Sea flower urchins may be harmless in appearance but are deadly in reality. This organism is capable of injecting venom in predators via small claws, which break off and stay there for a good amount of time, releasing venom and eventually killing the predator. They were considered harmless before, but now researchers have clarified them as parasites in nature.

What is unique about the flower urchin?

One unique feature about sea flower urchins is that the spines are outside their bodies and are pointy in appearance. These help them move slowly across the ocean bed.

Do people eat flower urchin?

Despite them being dangerous, they are harvested in Pacific, South Asian, and East Asian regions for their gonads which are considered edible by the locals there. Their gonads are safe to eat, it's just the spins that are venomous, and they taste sweet and salty.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these barnacle facts and flatworm facts.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our coral coloring pages.