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The species name ' means "edible". Sea urchin roe is used as food around the world, but ' is not among the preferred sea urchin species, due to its white gonads. Sea urchin species with orange gonads are preferred. It is not actually the eggs that are eaten but the gonads, both male and female. Fishing for urchins is undertaken off European coasts and the possibility of aquaculture is being investigated. In a study off the west coast of Scotland it was found that feeding a commercially available salmon feed promoted gonadal growth in the urchins and the practicalities of a fully farmed approach were being assessed.