Species and Habitat Outlines

Green Sea Urchin
TAXONOMY

Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Echinoida
Family: Strongylocentrotidae

 

ECOLOGICAL DATA

Distribution: rocky areas throughout exposed and protected coastal waters.

Habitat: rocky substrates, especially ledges and crevices; locate near or in giant or bull kelp beds and other brown algae in areas of moderate to swift currents; larvae drift and feed in plankton; juveniles settle near kelp beds, often associate with aggregations of adults, remain under adult spines until mature.

Tidal elevation: extreme low tide to over 100 m subtidal depth; most concentrated abundance just below the upper limit of range.

Food: herbivore; grazes on attached marine plants and drifting kelp fragments; primary food is kelp and may limit kelp distribution;

Predators: sea stars, sea otter, octopus, crabs, wolf eels; numerous predators on larvae.

GROWTH RATE

Slow; average size is 50-60 mm, but may reach a maximum size of about 85 mm.

FISHERY

No commercial fishery exists at present due to small size though potential exists.

REFERENCES

Jamieson, G.S., and K. Francis. 1986. Sea urchins, pp. 8-12. In. G.S. Jamieson and K. Francis [ed.] Invertebrate and marine plant fishery resources of British Columbia. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 91.

Kramer, D.E., and D.M.A. Nordin. 1978. Physical data from a study of size, weight and gonad quality for the green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) over a one-year period. Fish. Mar. Serv. MS Rep. 1476: 68 p.

Mottet, M.G. 1976. The fishery biology of sea urchins in the Family Strongylocentrotidae. Wash. Dep. Fish. Tech. Rep. 20: 66 p.

 

For more information on green sea urchin habitat utilization and life cycle - click here

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