Banded Sea Urchin (Echinotrix calamaris)
Image Copyright BB Divers
Observed: Koh Chang Reefs, December 2015
Observed By: BB Divers
Watch out for the sharp and brittle spines of the banded sea urchin. A trailing hand or foot that brushes against them will cause them to break off in the flesh and despite having no poison they can easily cause infection and are the very devil to remove.
The spines of the sea urchin radiate from a roundish shell that forms their endoskeleton and protects the urchin from predators. Like their close relatives the startfish sea urchins exhibit five fold symmetry with five equal-sized body parts radiating out from a central point.
