Abatus cordatus
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| Abatus cordatus | |
|---|---|
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| External (above) and internal (below) views of test | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Echinoidea |
| Order: | Spatangoida |
| Family: | Schizasteridae |
| Genus: | Abatus |
| Species: | A. cordatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Abatus cordatus (Verrill, 1876) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Abatus cordatus is a species of sea urchin in the family Schizasteridae. It is native to shallow seas surrounding certain island groups in the southern Indian Ocean. The body is protected by a hard test or shell which is covered with spines. The female broods its young in deep pockets on the upper surface, retaining the young in place with specialised spines. American zoologist Addison Emery Verrill first scientifically described A. cordatus in 1876.[2]
The test of this species is oval and bilaterally symmetrical, up to 5 cm (2 in) long. The oral (under) surface is relatively flat but the aboral (upper) surface is domed, the colour being some shade of yellowish or greenish-brown. The test is thin and fragile, and is entirely covered with spines of various lengths in different parts. The anterior ambulacrum forms a shallow depression and the other four ambulacra form a star-shaped furrow across the surface of the test; this is shallow in males, but much deeper in females, forming pockets in which the young are incubated. The pockets are protected by specialized spines. On the oral surface the spines are short and used for locomotion, while the surrounding spines are used for digging.[3]
