Frédéric Ducarme, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

MARINE SPECIES

Purple Sea Urchin

About

Its spines break off easily under the skin if stepped on or touched by accident. Get out of the water without rubbing the area and rinse with seawater. If the spines are superficial, remove them with disinfected tweezers; if deep or broken, don't remove them yourself - ask a lifeguard, pharmacy or doctor for help, and watch for infection over the following days.

A species of sea urchin in the family Parechinidae, commonly known as the purple sea urchin.

Paracentrotus lividus has a circular, flattened, greenish test up to seven centimetres in diameter. The test is densely covered in long, sharp spines that are usually purple but occasionally other colours such as dark brown, light brown and olive. A round creature that wedges itself into rock crevices and shallow water, especially near rocky shores.

Found throughout the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from western Scotland and Ireland to the Azores, the Canaries and Morocco. It usually lives just below the low-tide line at depths of up to twenty metres, and sometimes in rock pools, on rocks, boulders and in Posidonia seagrass meadows.

Some species bury themselves in soft sediment using their spines, and Paracentrotus lividus uses its jaws to bore into soft rock.

Danger level

It doesn't attack. Its spines break off easily under the skin if stepped on or touched by accident, causing painful irritation. Inflammation can occur if fragments remain.

Treating an injury

Get out of the water, don't rub the area
Rinse with seawater
If the spines are superficial, remove them with disinfected tweezers
If they're deep or broken under the skin, don't try to remove them yourself - ask a lifeguard, pharmacy or doctor for help
Disinfect and watch for infection over the following days

Ecological significance

Grazes on algae and Posidonia, regulating the balance of the rocky seabed. Where they're abundant they create a "barren" seabed; where they're few, kelp forests can develop.

View on Encyclopedia of Life

About

Danger level

Treating an injury

Ecological significance

Photos

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