Slate pencil urchin

Biology

The slate pencil urchin has a brown, sometimes mottled body, with stubby, thick spines radiating out in all directions. During the day it uses its spines to anchor itself on rocks or to lodge itself in crevices, coming out at night to forage for food, particularly for algae, sea squirts, sponges and corals. This urchin has become an invasive species in some parts of the world, presumably through ballast water.

Curiosities

It is considered an interesting model for studies in the fields of developmental and evolutionary biology.