Ten-lined Urchin

Eucidaris metularia

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth3–59 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsSeptember
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Eucidaris metularia, the ten-lined urchin, is a species of sea urchins in the family Cidaridae. It is found in shallow parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and is characterised by its sparse covering of banded, flat-tipped spines.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Eucidaris metularia”, 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: 15 records
February: 25 records
March: 35 records
April: 49 records
May: 58 records
June: 54 records
July: 63 records
August: 60 records
September: 119 records
October: 62 records
November: 32 records
December: 29 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–59 m · Deepest record: 278 m

0–10 m: 73 records
10–20 m: 109 records
20–30 m: 9 records
30–40 m: 11 records
40–50 m: 27 records
50–60 m: 48 records
60–70 m: 18 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 10 records
24–26 °C: 262 records
26–28 °C: 46 records
28–30 °C: 89 records

Photos

(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ten-lined Urchin

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: マツカサウニ
Simplified Chinese: 冠棘真頭帕

Other scientific names: Cidaris (Dorocidaris) metularia, Cidaris (Eucidaris) metularia, Cidaris (Gymnocidaris) metularia, Cidaris mauri, Cidaris metularia, Cidarites metularia, Gymnocidaris metularia, Gymnocidaris minor

Similar species

Prionocidaris bispinosa
Acanthocidaris curvatispinis
Acanthocidaris hastigera
Acanthocidaris maculicollis
Goniocidaris (Cyrtocidaris) tenuispina
Imperial urchin
Phyllacanthus imperialis

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).
549 open-data records from 1816 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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