Gracilechinus
| Gracilechinus | |
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| Gracilechinus acutus at the Biodiversarium of the Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer | |
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| Genus: | Gracilechinus Fell & Pawson, 1966
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see text | |
Gracilechinus is a genus of sea urchins in the family Echinidae.
Description and characteristics
The species in this genus are regular sea urchins, with a rounded test, bearing the anus at the top and the mouth at the bottom. They are extremely similar to species in the genus Echinus, but are differentiated by a primary tubercle on every interambulacral plate.[1]
Most species in this genus are abyssal, and live in the North Atlantic or close cold seas.
Species
Species in this genus include:[2]
- Gracilechinus acutus (Lamarck, 1816) -- Europe (Mediterranean and Atlantic)
- Gracilechinus affinis (Mortensen, 1903) -- center Atlantic
- Gracilechinus alexandri (Döderlein & Koren, 1883) -- Northern Atlantic
- Gracilechinus atlanticus (Mortensen, 1903) -- Atlantic
- Gracilechinus elegans (Düben & Koren, 1844) -- North-east Atlantic
- Gracilechinus gracilis (Agassiz, 1869) -- Caribbean
- Gracilechinus lucidus (Döderlein, 1885) -- North-west Pacific
- Gracilechinus stenoporus (Mortensen, 1942) -- South Africa
References
- ^ "Gracilechinus". Echinoid Directory.
- ^ Andreas Kroh (2015), Gracilechinus in Kroh, A. & Mooi, R. (2015), World Echinoidea Database.