Abundance: very common | Distribution:
outer shelf and shelf-edge (50-100 m) |
Scroll down to review gallery images.
Ventral (left) and dorsal
views of a fairly common pencil urchin of the mid- to outer-continental shelf.
The test diameter is ~3.5 cm, whereas the pencil-like spines average ~3.5 cm.
Dorsal (left) and side
views of specimens collected on the outer shelf. Tube worms have taken
advantage of the "hard substrate" available to them: pencil urchin
spines! The worms use available
sediment from the seafloor to construct the tube.