Tuxedo urchin lost most spines, do they recover?

[danielevan]

I've got a tuxedo (pincushion) urchin; it's recently lost most of its hard spines. It seems to still have a number of the flexible suckers sticking out of its stripes, and therefore seems still somewhat alive.

Are they known to recover from a massive loss of spines?

[greenbean36191]

Assuming the original problem is corrected, sometimes they can recover, but when it's the majority of the spines the prognosis is grim. Make sure your salinity stays above 1.025 and there aren't any large, fast changes.

[bpd964]

Usually not a good sign.. See if it's starting to darken on it's underside near the mouth. If so, I'm sorry my friend, but, it doesn't sound too good..

[racrumrine]

If your parameters are good hang in there.

In a barebottom 75, I have a long spine urchin. Not thinking, I poured some fresh water in really fast (instead of carefully) and it totally stirred up the detritus on the bottom of the tank.

Other than making a cloudy mess, I didn't think there would be any lasting effects. Well, the next day there were spines all over the tank. The urchin was hiding behind the rocks and wouldn't move. I felt really bad and after a couple of days of not moving, thought he was a goner.

I took a small rock, attached a bunch of nori with a rubber band, and put it right next to the urchin. It barely touched it. For a few more days, I would continue to try to feed it and it would barely move from its spot.

After several more days, it started moving around the tank and I could see the spines growing bigger and bigger each day.

Months later, it's totally back to normal.

Lesson learned.

I also have a tuxedo urchin in another tank. Given my experience with the long spine, I'd like to think yours could recover to.

I think with most critters, if it eats, it's got a chance to recover.

Best of luck,

Roy