Ovoid sea urchin

Amblypneustes ovum

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth5–20 m
Water temperature14–20 °C
Best monthsJanuary and March
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Terra Occ, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Amblypneustes ovum is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It is in the genus Amblypneustes and lives in the sea. Amblypneustes ovum was first scientifically described in 1816 by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Amblypneustes ovum”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 45 records
February: 36 records
March: 69 records
April: 40 records
May: 25 records
June: 36 records
July: 32 records
August: 40 records
September: 23 records
October: 26 records
November: 36 records
December: 30 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–20 m · Deepest record: 62 m

0–10 m: 60 records
10–20 m: 17 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–20 °C

12–14 °C: 41 records
14–16 °C: 106 records
16–18 °C: 8 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 3 records

Photos

(c) Oliver S., some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Liam Sultana, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ovoid sea urchin

Other scientific names: Amblypneustes griseus, Amblypneustes serialis, Amblypneustes textilis, Echinus griseus, Echinus ovum

Similar species

Little Pink Urchin
Amblypneustes elevatus
Diamond patterned sea urchin
Amblypneustes formosus
Grand sea urchin
Amblypneustes grandis
Pale sea urchin
Amblypneustes pallidus
Amblypneustes leucoglobus
Mespilia globulus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
331 open-data records from 1908 to 2017.
Species data updated October 31, 2026.

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