Toxopneustes is a genus of sea urchins from the tropical Indo-Pacific. It contains four species. They are known to possess medically significant venom to humans on their pedicellariae (tiny claw-like structures). They are sometimes collectively known as flower urchins, after the most widespread and most commonly encountered species in the genus, the flower urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus).
| Toxopneustes Temporal range:
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| The flower urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus) is potentially dangerous to humans | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Camarodonta |
| Family: | Toxopneustidae |
| Genus: | Toxopneustes L. Agassiz, 1841 |
| Type species | |
| Echinus pileolus Lamarck, 1816
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Species edit
Species included in the genus are the following:[1][2][3][4]
| Image | Scientific name | Description | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
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Toxopneustes elegans Döderlein, 1885 | Can be distinguished by the presence of a distinctive dark stripe just below the tips of their spines. | Restricted to waters around Japan. |
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Toxopneustes maculatus (Lamarck, 1816) | Can be distinguished by bright violet coloration on the bottom and in a band around the middle of their tests. | Very rare species found in the Indo-West Pacific. Known only from specimens from Réunion, Christmas Island, and the Palmyra Atoll. |
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Toxopneustes pileolus (Lamarck, 1816) | Can be distinguished by variegated red, grey, green, or purple coloration of their tests. | Common and widespread in the Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa to the Cook Islands. |
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Toxopneustes roseus (A. Agassiz, 1863) | Can be distinguished by the uniform coloration of their tests of pink, brown, or purple. | Restricted to the East Pacific, along the coasts of California, Mexico, Central America, and part of South America (including the Galapagos Islands). |
Gallery edit
References edit
- ^ a b Andreas Kroh (2014). Kroh A, Mooi R (eds.). "Toxopneustes pileolus (Lamarck, 1816)". World Echinoidea Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ Wolfgang Bücherl & Eleanor E. Buckley (2013). Venomous Animals and Their Venoms: Venomous Invertebrates. Elsevier. pp. 427, 431. ISBN 9781483262895.
- ^ Alexander Agassiz & Hubert Lyman Clark (1912). "Hawaiian and Other Pacific Echini: The Pedinidae, Phymosomatidae, Stomopneustidae, Echinidae, Temnopleuridae, Strongylocentrotidae, and Echinometridae". Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College. 34 (4): 207–383.
- ^ Hubert Lyman Clark (1925). A Catalogue of the Recent Sea-Urchins (Echinoidea) in the Collection of the British Museum (Natural History). Oxford University Press. pp. 122–123.
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