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Toxopneustes pileolus

Flower Urchin

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Image:	Animal and pedicillariae open and closed	71KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Flower Urchin

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Indonesia - Cooks; n. s.Japan.

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - rare (Rarotonga only); Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; dangerously toxic appendages

KEY FEATURES: Testa to 14cmØ. COLOUR pink to beige, often camouflaged with debris. PEDICILLARIAE cover testa protruding beyond the spines; each has a slender stalk and a cup-like tip, which is pale pink with a red centre with 3-jaws; on contact the jaws snap closed and inject venom. SPINES relatively short, non-venomous. Pedicillariae jaws remain locked even when the pedicellariae are pulled over the urchin. The venom causes severe pain and muscular paralysis that may last around 6 hours. Death from poison unknown, but the pain can lead to accidental drowning.

Enlarged Image of 'Toxopneustes pileolus'

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Pests & Hosts

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Relationship	Hosts
Toxic - serious	Homo sapiens,

Scientific Taxonomy

Toxopneustes pileolus (Lamarck, 1816)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; ECHINOIDEA; REGULARIA; Camorodonta; TOXOPNEUSTIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: dangerously toxic appendages. Comments: The small round appendages (=pedicellariae) snap closed and inject venom causing serious pain, which may last for six hours. Very painful, but only fatalities were due to drowning. Remove any attached apprendages, soak in NON-SCALDING hot water. Seek medical assistance in case respiratory complications develop.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, southwest reef-flat (Aroa), 7/2005, Sonia Miller, with ID G.McCormack as Toxopneustes pileolus, 7/2005.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB05b, zM05b, zD05b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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