Cidaridae
Eucidaris tribuloides
The lance urchins ( Cidaridae ) belong to the subclass Perischoechinoidea who belong mostly primitive and now extinct species.
Description and characteristics
Lance urchins there since the Devonian. They have their German names from the 30 to 90 strong, up to 30 centimeters long primary spines, which are always provided with spines, thickened or thick tails or have grooves. Since they are not covered by skin, they are often colonized by algae and other invertebrates. Primary spikes may be twice as long as the diameter of the body. They are often black, red or yellow in color, often curled, hollow and very sharp. It is believed that they also contain poison. To find the base of the thick primary spines, around the anus and the genital plate are annularly the small secondary spines. Overall, the sting armor is so thin that you always can still see the shell of the body.
Some lance urchins such as the genera Ctenocidaris and Notocidaris operate brood care and protect the breeding between their spines.
Almost all lance urchins are omnivorous and feed on algae, sponges, bryozoans, tunicates, coral polyps and bristle worms.
List of genera
- Subfamily Cidarinae ( Mortensen, 1928a ) Genus Calocidaris ( H.L. Clark, 1907)
- Centrocidaris genus (A. Agassiz, 1904)
- Chondrocidaris genus (A. Agassiz, 1863)
- Genus Chorocidaris ( Ikeda, 1941)
- Genus Cidaris ( Leske, 1778)
- Genus Compsocidaris ( Ikeda, 1939)
- Genus Eucidaris ( Pomel, 1883)
- Genus Hesperocidaris ( Mortensen, 1928b )
- Genus Kionocidaris ( Mortensen, 1932)
- Genus Lissocidaris ( Mortensen, 1939)
- Genus Tretocidaris ( Mortensen, 1903b )
- Genus Austrocidaris ( H.L. Clark, 1907)
- Genus Goniocidaris ( Desor, in Agassiz & Desor, 1846)
- Genus Ogmocidaris ( Mortensen, 1921)
- Genus Psilocidaris ( Mortensen, 1927)
- Genus Rhopalocidaris ( Mortensen, 1927)
- Genus Schizocidaris ( Mortensen, 1903b )
- Genus Adelcidaris ( Cotton & Godfrey, 1942) ( nomen dubium )
- Genus phyllacanthus ( Brandt, 1835)
- Genus Phalacrocidaris ( Lambert, 1902)
- Genus Stereocidaris ( Pomel, 1883)
- Genus Acanthocidaris ( Mortensen, 1903b )
- Genus Plococidaris ( Mortensen, 1909)
- Prionocidaris genus (A. Agassiz, 1863)
- Genus Stylocidaris ( Mortensen, 1909)
Phyllacanthus imperialis.
Prionocidaris hawaiiensis.
Stylocidaris affinis.