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RogueAgent94
10/14/2012, 05:52 PM
Hey,

Can someone ID this urchin for me? It was a hitchhiker on a piece of baserock I got from a friend recently. It isn't terribly big right now. It moved a lot this morning when I saw it for the first time but it has stopped moving since. My tank has very little algae in it because I clean it off whenever I see it. I tried feeding an algae wafer (what I do for my hermit crabs) but it just sat there.

Also, is this urchin or urchins in general reef safe?? I don't want him eating my Zoanthids and Xenia.

Here are two pictures. One with a flash and one without a flash.

http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/RogueAgent94/Nano%20Reef/IMG_7178.jpghttp://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/RogueAgent94/Nano%20Reef/IMG_7177.jpg
Kitsune_Gem
10/14/2012, 07:02 PM
Look like a rock urchin.
OKDOHK
10/14/2012, 07:03 PM
My guess is, "Arbacia punctulata"
RogueAgent94
10/14/2012, 07:35 PM
I think you guys are right. Someone else said it could have been a Diadema antillarum but I don't think so now that I look at Arbacia punctulata.

EDIT: What do you think about Strongylocentrotus purpuratus? Color wise it looks like one of those.
triggreef
10/14/2012, 08:05 PM
My guess is, "Arbacia punctulata"

I think it looks a lot more like this one. I also recently got one as a hitch hiker on a piece of live rock. seems pretty bullet proof since it made it through my live rock cure.
OKDOHK
10/14/2012, 08:29 PM
I could be wrong, but i think Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is found along the west coast of USA and Canada. Did the live rock come from the west coast?
RogueAgent94
10/14/2012, 09:13 PM
I think it looks a lot more like this one. I also recently got one as a hitch hiker on a piece of live rock. seems pretty bullet proof since it made it through my live rock cure.

Yeah. I'm leaning more towards that one too. Haha well I didn't cure my rock because it was a friends tank. I just didn't notice the darn thing. I could be wrong, but i think Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is found along the west coast of USA and Canada. Did the live rock come from the west coast?

Yes, they do. This is not live rock. It's base rock which is apparently different? I think. I was told it wasn't the same thing.

Any idea of an Arbacia punctulata is reef safe?
OKDOHK
10/14/2012, 10:04 PM
Oops. Apparently, i wasn't paying enough attention to your original post. Did your friend buy any live rock for their tank? If not, does your friend live close to the coast in Florida? They might have picked this guy up. This would also support the Arbacia punctulata guess.

Not sure. I have never owned one. Hopefully others that do, will let you know what they tend to eat.
RogueAgent94
10/14/2012, 10:42 PM
Yes, there is a lot live rock in his tank. He said he added about a dozen urchins a couple years and they seem to have multiplied. I think he may have gotten some in his live rock as well. I don't think he would take them out of the wild. He said the ones that he added to his tank were store bought.