green sea urchin

Lytechinus variegatus

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth5–55 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, June, and July
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Lytechinus variegatus, commonly called the green sea urchin or the variegated sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin that can be found in the warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lytechinus variegatus”, 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: 333 records
February: 287 records
March: 260 records
April: 263 records
May: 219 records
June: 370 records
July: 363 records
August: 255 records
September: 222 records
October: 265 records
November: 217 records
December: 256 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–55 m · Deepest record: 1,220 m

0–10 m: 180 records
10–20 m: 226 records
20–30 m: 94 records
30–40 m: 130 records
40–50 m: 76 records
50–60 m: 76 records
60–70 m: 26 records
70–80 m: 16 records
80–90 m: 5 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 7 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 65 records
24–26 °C: 184 records
26–28 °C: 87 records
28–30 °C: 43 records

Photos

(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Joseph D Kurtz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) chloe ⋆˚꩜｡, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) wiregrasser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Kennedy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Austin Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: green sea urchin, Variable Sea Urchin, Variegated Sea Urchin, Variegated Urchin

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: Erizo verde de mar
French: Oursin multicolore

Other scientific names: Anapesus blainvillei, Echinus blainvillei, Echinus excavatus, Echinus variegatus, Lytechinus excavatus, Lytechinus thieryi, Lytechinus thiéryi, Psammechinus excavatus, Psammechinus variegatus, Psilechinus variegatus, Schizechinus excavatus, Schizechinus variegatus, Toxopneustes atlanticus, Toxopneustes variegatus

Similar species

Toxopneustes pileolus
Bischofsmützenseeigel
Tripneustes gratilla
Warty Sand Urchin
Nudechinus verruculatus
Stained Collector Urchin
Pseudoboletia maculata
Gymnechinus epistichus
Gymnechinus robillardi

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).
2,039 open-data records from 1880 to 2024.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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