Did you know that this specimen ships from our LiveAquaria® Wisconsin Facility, home of our popular Diver's Den® WYSIWYG Store and our LiveAquaria® Certified Captive Grown Corals (CCGC)? What that means is that you can rest assured knowing this specimen received the highest level of care from our experienced and professional LiveAquaria® staff!

PLUS, hobbyists that use our LiveAquaria® Professional Reef Salt have the added benefit knowing marine species shipped from our LiveAquaria® Wisconsin Facility share the same water parameters. In other words, if you use our Professional Reef Salt, marine species shipped from our Wisconsin Facility will acclimate and transition to your home aquarium with less stress to set the foundation for longer term success.

The Pincushion Urchin has an oval to round body covered with hundreds of uniform spines. Its color can range from red to purple to white and blue.

It requires ample hiding places and sufficient room in which to forage in the home aquarium. It generally hides in caves during the day, though it may make a burrow in thick substrates. At night, it comes out to graze on algae, moving about by its suctorial podia that are aligned in five doubled rows. The aquarium should include large amounts of live rock on which it can graze. It may also prey on some of the sessile invertebrates in the reef system. Rock formations need to be stable and able to withstand the movement of the Urchin wedging itself in crevices. It is generally solitary, but will tolerate others of its own kind. It is sensitive to high levels of copper-based medications and will not tolerate high nitrates. Poor water quality will cause it to lose its spines.

It is extremely difficult to breed in an aquarium, with no distinguishing characteristics to help differentiate it from its mate.

If there is insufficient algae for it to graze on, the diet should be supplemented with dried seaweed.

Approximate Purchase Size: Medium: 1" to 2"; Large: 2" to 3"