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Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences
Vol. 44(10), October 2015, pp. 1637-1639
First record of Temnopleurus toreumaticus (Leske, 1778) from
Mumbai (Echinodermata; Echinoidea)
Sagar Gavas*& Bhupendra Shirke
D.G.Ruparel College, Senapati Bapat Marg, Mahim, Mumbai- 400 016, India
[Email ID: [email protected]]
Received 21 April 2014; revised 14 October 2014
Sea urchins are marine spiny animal belonging to phylum Echinodermata. Till date there is no report on occurrence of sea
urchins from Mumbai coast. This paper reports the first record of Temnopleurus toreumaticus (Leske, 1778) from Mumbai
coast. The specimen was collected from Mumbai beach and identified using standard available literature. This study is a
preliminary data for further investigations, monitoring and conservation.
[Key words: Sea urchin, first record, Temnopleurus, Mumbai]
Introduction
About 6000 living species of echinoderms have
been described in the world, of which more than
1000 have been listed for the Indo-West
Pacific1. Sea urchin is one of the most common
components of near shore marine ecosystem,
often playing an important ecological role in
shallow subtidal environments2. Sea urchin
inhabits sea grass beds, coral reef3, intertidal
region4, and feed on benthic invertebrates and
algae5. Among the various families of echinoids
that inhabit Indo-West Pacific, the family
Temnopleuridae (Agassiz, 1872) comprises 14
genera and 25 species 6, 7. Earlier work in the
west coast on Temnopleurus sp.has been done
by Hegde et al 8. The intertidal region of
Mumbai is least studied. There are no official
records of echinoderms in recent years. The
rocky shore of Mumbai has good diversity of
algae and other invertebrates which serve as
good feeding grounds for Sea urchin. The
present paper describes a new record of
Temnopleurus toreumaticus from Mumbai.
Materials and Methods
For the current study, intertidal areas of rocky
shore along Mumbai coast were selected.
Mumbai is located on the west cost of India
(between Lat. 18054’ to 19009’ N and Long.
72047’ to 72056’ E). Sampling was carried out
on rocky patches of Mumbai. Survey was
carried out during low tide on rocky shores of
Mumbai from January to March 2014. Digital
images were taken on site during survey to
record their native colouration and pattern. Live
specimens were brought to the laboratory and
were subjected to detailed observations to reveal
their morphological, anatomical and biometric
characteristics. The specimen were preserved,
labeled and deposited in the museum.
Identification was carried out based on the
morphological characteristics and available
standard literatures8-10.
Results and Discussions
Sea Urchin Temnopleurus toreumaticus is
classified under the class Echinoidea as follows
9
:
 Subclass: Regularia
Key to the Sub-class of class: Test
globular, or spherical; anus inside the
apical system of plates.
 Order: Camarodonta
Key to the orders of the sub-class:
Epiphyses of the Aristotle's lantern
fused across the top of each pyramid
teeth keeled.
 Family: Temnopleuridae
Key to the family of the order: Test
sculptured by pits and depressions.
 Genus : Temnopleurus (L. Agassiz,
1841)
Key to the genus of the family: Test
profile hemispherical to subconical,
rather thick shelled with conspicuous
crenulations
 Species : toreumaticus (Leske, 1778)
Key to species of the genus: Primary
spines long, equal to half of horizontal test
INDIAN J MAR SCI VOL 44, NO.10 OCTOBER 2015
1638
diameter, banded with reddish or brown
colour bands, pore-pairs arranged in
arcs8.
Habitat and Distribution
Temnopleurus toreumaticus is a fairly wide
spread species occupying rocky and sandy
beaches. It is known to occur in East Africa,
Madagscar, the Persian Gulf, Red sea and on the
east coast of Australia 10. In Japan, this species
is found from northern Honshu to southern
Kyushu11, 12 and Shirikiwa Bay 13
Morphological Characters
 Test:
Dome-shaped,
rigid,
well
sculptured with a convex aboral surface.
Test comprises of five pairs of
alternately placed ambulacral and
interambulacral plates placed at about
the level of the ambulacral plates.
Ambulacral
plates
compound
trigeminate, their pore-pairs bearing
numerous tube feet (in living
specimens) (Fig. 1 and 3)8
 Test Colour: Olive green to dark grey
colour (Fig. 1)
Madreporite
Genital
Plate
Periproct
Fig 2- Aboral surface of Temnopleurus toreumaticus
(Leske, 1778)

Periproct: Roughly circular8 (Fig 2)
Sutural
Pit
Green and
grey
band
spines
Fig3- Fig 3- Banding pattern on spine, sutural pit and tube
feet Of Temnopleurus toreumaticus (Leske, 1778)

Spines: Spines are thick, their surface
covered with line longitudinal ridges.
Spine colouration grey with alternating
greenish or brownish bands8 (Fig.3)
Fig 1- Live specimen of Temnopleurus toreumaticus
(Leske, 1778)


Peristome: The peristome is large
roughly circular in outline with very
feeble buccal notches. It is covered with
soft skin and comprises of five pairs of
buccal plates8.(Fig 4)
Apical system: It is dicyclic and smaller
than the peristome, with four equalsized genital plates and one larger
genital plate with madreporite8.(Fig 2)
Fig 4- Oral view of Temnopleurus toreumaticus
(Leske, 1778)
Tube feet
GAVAS et al. FIRST RECORD OF TEMNOPLEURUS TOREUMATICUS (LESKE, 1778) FROM MUMBAI
(ECHINODERMATA; ECHINOIDEA)
:
Conclusion
Echinodermata is one of the best characterized
and most distinct phyla of animal kingdom14.
Present study reports the first record of Sea
urchin
Temnopleurus
toreumaticus
(Leske, 1778) from Mumbai. The concern is
that we may lose many species without being
aware of their existence in Mumbai beaches.
Further study on echinoderms of shallow water
are necessary should be done in terms of
monographic works and marine scientists should
be encouraged to study the other aspects on this
animal. It is important to have conservation
based systematic and comprehensive studies on
these animals so that base line information may
be generated on these animals and their habitat.
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(Echinoidea, Temnopleuroida, Temnopleuridae)
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part III, no. 2 Camarodonta 1. orthopsidae,
Glyphocyphidae,
Temnopleuridae
and
1.
Toxopneustidae. C. A. Reitzel, Copenhagen,
(1943) pp553
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shallow Water species. (Heinke & Peter Schultz
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pp495
13. Kitazawa C., Kawasaki S., Nishimura H.,
Nakano M., Yamaguchi T. & Yamanaka A.
Distribution and habitat preferences of sea urchin
in Shirikawa Bay, Yamaguchi, during the period
from 2005 to 2007. Biological Bulletin(2007)
217: 215-221.
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(Adam & Charles Black, London) 1900 pp 1344.
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