page_title: Stomopneustes variolaris
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Stomopneustes variolaris / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Sea urchins (Stomopneustes variolaris) in Tangalle beach, Sri Lanka. They can be found no far away from the shore. සිංහල: තංගල්ල නොගැඹුරු මුහදේ වෙසෙන වෙසෙන මුහුදු ඉකිරි. මුහුදු වෙරළට ඉතා ආසන්නයේ ඇති ගල් පර අතර මොවුන් හමු වේ.
context_page_description: Stomopneustes variolaris, the black sea urchin or long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin, the only one in its genus Stomopneustes and only species still alive in its family Stomopneustidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a patchy distribution.
context_section_description: It is a rather big and strong regular sea urchin. The spines are robust and sharp, black with sometimes a blue-greenish tinge (depending on the light). They can be recognized thanks to the 5 grey sutures on the upper face, exhibiting distinctive zig-zag pattern. The oral face is clearer. The juveniles are clearer too (they can be black but also pale brown), and often show strikingly asymmetrical spines, due to their habit to use them for digging hiding holes in soft rocks.
  They can be confused with the Diadematidae sea urchins which sho longer and more slender spines, with an anal papilla, or with Echinometra mathaei, which also digs holes but is smaller, with shorter spines and never truly black.
caption: S. variolaris in Sri Lanka.
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