Biodiversity & Conservation

Green sea urchin - Psammechinus miliaris - General information

Psammechinus miliaris

Image Sue Daly - Psammechinus miliaris. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Psammechinus miliaris recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Psammechinus miliaris is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Angus Jackson Text page icon Refereed by: Dr Maeve Kelly

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Echinodermata Starfish, brittlestars, sea urchins & sea cucumbers
Class Echinoidea Sea urchins, heart urchins and sand dollars
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland All British and Irish coasts. Evenly distributed in the southern North Sea but scarce in northern North Sea.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found intertidally on rocky shores under stones, boulders and seaweeds especially Saccharina latissima. Also found subtidally in seagrass beds or on mixed coarse bottoms such as muddy sand and gravel.
Text page icon Description An almost round, slightly flattened urchin that grows up to 57 mm in diameter (although more typically to 35 mm diameter). It is greenish in colour with distinctive violet tips to the spines. The spines are robust, short and closely packed.

This review can be cited as follows:

Angus Jackson 2008. Psammechinus miliaris. Green sea urchin. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4216>