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Brissus latecarinatus

Giant Petalled Heart-urchin

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Giant Petalled Heart-urchin

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Fr. Polynesia - Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, buried in sand under rock fragments.

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Oval, fine-spined heart-urchin, 13x11x7cm, anus at rear and mouth on underside. Ambulacra form 4 sunken petal-like dorsal grooves, with unsunken anterior "petal". No anal fascioles. Live is pale brown. Globiferous pedicellariae are large and dark.

Enlarged Image of 'Brissus latecarinatus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Scientific Taxonomy

Brissus latecarinatus (Leske, 1778)
SYNONYMS: Spatangus latecarinatus [also put in Family BRISSIDAE]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; ECHINOIDEA; IRREGULARIA; Spatangoida; SPATANGIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zB02, zD02

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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