Tam o Shanter urchin

Araeosoma thetidis

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth166–430 m
Water temperature9–27 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonRare

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

About this species

Araeosoma thetidis is a species of sea urchin of the family Echinothuriidae that lives in deep sea off Australia and New Zealand. A. thetidis was first scientifically described in 1909 by Hubert Lyman Clark.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 3 records
February: 4 records
March: 10 records
April: 11 records
May: 8 records
June: 10 records
July: 5 records
August: 2 records
September: 13 records
October: 15 records
November: 53 records
December: 5 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 166–430 m · Deepest record: 1,033 m

70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 1 records
130–140 m: 2 records
140–150 m: 2 records
150–160 m: 4 records
160–170 m: 3 records
170–180 m: 5 records
180+ m: 102 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–27 °C

8–10 °C: 4 records
10–12 °C: 6 records
12–14 °C: 2 records
14–16 °C: 2 records
16–18 °C: 82 records
18–20 °C: 7 records
20–22 °C: 21 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 31 records
26–28 °C: 15 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Tam o Shanter urchin

Other scientific names: Asthenosoma thetidis

Similar species

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).
201 open-data records from 1898 to 2016.
Species data updated October 27, 2026.

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