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View Full Version : Sea urchins are they poisonous ?

boxerzz
07/05/2008, 12:40 AM
I saw a small one in my tank about 1/2 in across and got spikes, hurts when I touch it. Thought what was spikey inside until I saw it.
boxerzz
07/05/2008, 11:59 PM
no one ?
davez104
07/06/2008, 12:01 AM
If it hurts, don't do it???

Just a thought.
InsaneClownFish
07/06/2008, 12:09 AM
The spines are poisonous.
oceanparadise1
07/06/2008, 12:15 AM
they are not poisonous. I have three of them, i pick them up all the time. They dont hurt and they ***** me all the time and i have never been poisned.
InsaneClownFish
07/06/2008, 01:26 AM
From WetWebMedia:

The class Echinoidea including the Urchins are discoidal, ovate or globose echinoderms having bodies covered with spines and no arms. The name echinoidea is actually Greek for "like a hedgehog" referring to these spines. Their mouths are aboral, that is, directed against the substrate. Distributed between the spines are pedicellariae, specialized tube feet used for cleaning and defense. Some of these are termed globeriferous pedicellariae (now that's a mouthful!) and contain poison glands. About 800 species have been described.


Don't be fooled into thinking the length of an Urchin's spines have any direct relation to their ability to hurt you... Not to mention their poison tube feet! Use a net to negotiate them into a container underwater.
greenbean36191
07/06/2008, 05:01 AM
Not all urchins are venomous (poisonous means they have to be eaten to be toxic), though some are. Some like fire urchins have venomous spines and pedicellariae and can really hurt you, while some like Diadema don't have venomous pedicellariae but do have mildly venomous spines. Others like Echinometra and tuxedo urchins have neither.
LionfishFinatic
07/06/2008, 12:24 PM
fire urchins are the only venomous urchin that i know of that can really hurt you. these suckers will supposedly paralyze you for hours if you touch it. here is a pic of one that a guy in our local reef club owns

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m31/Lionfishfinatic/Mar212008003.jpg
ryan_paskadi
07/06/2008, 01:56 PM
Long spine urchins may be venomous. Not anything to worry about. They can cause inflamatory response. My understanding is that it is has not conclusively been decided if it is from a toxin or not.
Slakker
07/06/2008, 03:11 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12889587#post12889587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LionfishFinatic
fire urchins are the only venomous urchin that i know of that can really hurt you. these suckers will supposedly paralyze you for hours if you touch it. here is a pic of one that a guy in our local reef club owns

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m31/Lionfishfinatic/Mar212008003.jpg

....AWESOME!
rustrocker
07/06/2008, 05:06 PM
If you're not dead, don't worry about it ;)
Rendos
07/06/2008, 05:12 PM
From experience...fire urchins will paralyze the part of the body that gets stung for hours. My right hand was paralyzed for about 5-6 hours after touching one of these guys. I had no other symptoms.
Untamed12
07/06/2008, 11:21 PM
I was recently trying to gently nudge my hatpin urchin out of the way. I got thinking that the spines weren't that sharp because I could push pretty hard and it didn't really hurt....

....you guessed it....ZAAAPP!!!! Hurt like a bee sting and bled like crazy for about 15 minutes. Then, the pain went away about as suddenly. What I felt was much more than a stab..there was some kind of toxin involved that caused pain and stopped clotting.

I'm more careful now.