Violet sea urchin
Sphaerechinus granularis
Special features
The Violet sea urchin likes to decorate itself with everything that is lying around in its area.
With his suction feet, he drapes algae and shell fragments on his body to disguise himself.
Appearance
The Violet sea urchin looks like you would imagine a classic sea urchin: round with dark purple spines.
They may look pointed, but they are comparatively blunt and the tips are beautifully decorated in white.
The ventral side of the sea urchin is flattened, which is also where the mouth opening is located.
On the opposite side of its body, i.e. facing upwards, is the anus opening.
They grow relatively large, up to 15cm in diameter.
Natural enemies
Starfish, sea bream
Dangerous/venomous
In addition to the spines, which can also injure us humans, the purple sea urchin has pedicellaria. These are small feet that have venom glands.
In addition, each of these pedicellaria has three pliers that can bite into the skin.
Sketch
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Pro tips
The Violet sea urchin is the cow of the Mediterranean Sea. It grazes algae meadows that have spread across rocks for several meters.
It also regards the roots of seagrass (Posidonia) as a delicacy and therefore often roams around there.
It prefers calm waters because, with its suction feet, it actually doesn't manage to hold on to the rock floor well. So it would be constantly washed away in areas with strong currents.
Young individuals in particular, who are white or red by the way, live in deeper, calm water.
As soon as they are sexually mature, they migrate in groups into shallow water and reproduce by draining sperm packets and eggs into the water. Their main mating season starts in spring and continues over summer.
Text: Carolina Leiter, Pia Balaka
Pic: Dive Dict
Illustration: Dive Dict
