Cactus Urchin

Dermechinus horridus

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth400–1,367 m
Water temperature1–22 °C
Best monthsJanuary, April, and November
How commonOccasional

About this species

Dermechinus is a genus of sea urchin in the family Echinidae found in deep water in the southern Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It is monotypic, with Dermechinus horridus, sometimes called the cactus urchin, being the only species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Dermechinus”, 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: 74 records
February: 41 records
March: 16 records
April: 65 records
May: 28 records
June: 11 records
July: 7 records
August: 15 records
September: 57 records
October: 25 records
November: 78 records
December: 37 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 400–1,367 m · Deepest record: 2,050 m

150–160 m: 1 records
160–170 m: 0 records
170–180 m: 0 records
180–190 m: 0 records
190–200 m: 0 records
200–210 m: 3 records
210–220 m: 0 records
220–230 m: 0 records
230–240 m: 1 records
240–250 m: 1 records
250–260 m: 1 records
260+ m: 371 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 1–22 °C

0–2 °C: 11 records
2–4 °C: 79 records
4–6 °C: 37 records
6–8 °C: 3 records
8–10 °C: 39 records
10–12 °C: 94 records
12–14 °C: 205 records
14–16 °C: 39 records
16–18 °C: 29 records
18–20 °C: 60 records
20–22 °C: 8 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Cactus Urchin

Other scientific names: Echinus horridus, Pseudechinus horridus, Sterechinus horridus

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).
656 open-data records from 1898 to 2025.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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