Echinidae

Echinidae is a family of sea urchins in the order Camarodonta. Members of the family are found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic.^[2]

Echinidae Temporal range: Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Echinus melo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Echinoidea
Order:	Camarodonta
Infraorder:	Echinidea
Family:	Echinidae Gray, 1825 [1]
Genera
See text

Characteristics

Members of the family Echinidae are characterized by having trigeminate ambulacra (quadrigeminate in one genus) with pairs of tube feet pores arranged either as vertical arcs or as a dense band. The ambulacral plates are compound. The tubercles are imperforate and do not have crenulate edges. There are few tubercles on the interambulacral plates. The buccal notches are reduced in size and, their most significant distinguishing feature, the pedicellariae are globiferous and have one or two pairs of lateral teeth on the narrow tubular blades.^[2][3]

Genera

According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following genera are included in the family:^[1]

• Dermechinus (Mortensen, 1942) -- 1 species
• Echinus Linnaeus, 1758 -- 9 species
• Gracilechinus (Fell & Pawson, 1966) -- 8 species
• Polyechinus (Mortensen, 1942) -- 1 species
• Sterechinus (Koehler, 1901) -- 6 species
• Atactus Pomel, 1883 † (nomen dubium)
• Stirechinus (Desor, 1856) †

• 
  Dermechinus horridus
• 
  Echinus esculentus
• 
  Gracilechinus acutus
• 
  Sterechinus neumayeri