Arbacia punctulata

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Arbacia punctulata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Arbacioida
Family: Arbaciidae
Genus: Arbacia
Species:
A. punctulata
Binomial name
Arbacia punctulata
(Lamarck, 1816)
Synonyms[1]
  • Anapesus carolinus Holmes, 1860
  • Echinocidaris davisii A. Agassiz, 1863
  • Echinocidaris punctulata (Lamarck, 1816)
  • Echinus punctulatus Lamarck, 1816

The Atlantic purple sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) is a species of

Arbaciidae
, native to the Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The Atlantic purple sea urchin is a spherical, dark purple-spined sea urchin, with a nearly flat oral face. It can reach up to 8 cm in diameter, and is native to the North Atlantic Ocean.

  • Face – aboral
    Face – aboral
  • Face – oral
    Face – oral

Habitat and range

Its natural habitat is in the western Atlantic Ocean. A. punctulata can be found in shallow water from

Yucatan Peninsula, from Texas to Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, the coast from Panama to French Guiana, and in the Lesser Antilles, usually on rocky, sandy, or shelly bottoms.[2]

Ecology and behaviour

A. punctulata is omnivorous, consuming a wide variety of prey[3] although Karlson[4] classified it as a generalized carnivore. Its galactolipids, rather than phlorotannins, act as herbivore deterrents in Fucus vesiculosus against A. punctulata.[5]

Uses in science

For more than a century, developmental biologists have valued the sea urchin as an experimental model organism. Sea urchin eggs are transparent and can be manipulated easily in the research laboratory. Their eggs can be easily fertilized and then develop rapidly and synchronously.[6][7]

For decades, the sea urchin embryo has been used to establish the

mitotic apparatus, and the realization that the major structural proteins of the mitotic apparatus are microtubules.[11][12] Sea urchin studies provided the first evidence of actin in nonmuscle cells.[13][14]

Arbacia punctulata is also a model organism of marine sediment toxicity[15][16] and for sperm study.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ "Arbacia punctulata (Lamarck, 1816)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. ^ Serafy DK (1979). "Echinoids (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)". Mem. Hourglass Cruises. 5: 1–120.
  3. JSTOR 1931986
    .
  4. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(78)90060-6
    .
  5. S2CID 5821145
    .
  6. PMID 18895450
    .
  7. PMID 12056821
    .
  8. PMID 14295124
    .
  9. PMID 4327513
    .
  10. PMID 17812420
    .
  11. PMID 14195437
    .
  12. PMID 14791535
    .
  13. PMID 6420068
    .
  14. PMID 6894447
    .
  15. PMID 18728732
    .
  16. S2CID 41962710
    .
  17. PMID 16575966
    .
  18. PMID 17951422
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arbacia_punctulata&oldid=1248844436"