What kind of urchin am I???

[bobby]

What kind of urchin is this, the lfs I got it from sold it to me as a pencil, and I know its not a pencil. I looked on the web and found one pic that said it was a colored or tuxido urchin and I know its not a tuxido. So what is it? A colored one, but then again the same site called it a tuxido.

 

[jhnrb]

My guess would be;

Echinometra lacunter, Echinometra mathel - short spined urchin (rock urchin)

up to 3" - lacunter Caribbean, mathei Indo Pacific - Primarily herbivorous, will take meaty foods. - Good reef inhabitants, if they have enough food and proper water conditions. - In natrue may bore holes in reef rock and live in them, foraging near the holes after dark for algae. Three Echinometra species are common in the hobby, but E. lacunter is probably the most common found on caribean live rock. They are good at controlling hair algae in aquariums. Colors are black or dark purple, sometimes with a reddish cast, and the color is uniformly distributed over the animal and spines. Salinity should remain at or slightly above 36 ppt, with temperatures around 82 degrees F.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[JellyMan]

your the man.

 

[bobby]

I looked it up and do believe thats what it is. The little guy is nice hasnt knocked anything over and leaves everything alone. Thanks for the info.