#phyllacanthus

My take on the imperial sputnik sea urchin!!!! My crochet plushies on top, and the actual sea shell that inspired me on the bottom. 

Now I have two types of sea urchins available on my Etsy shop! Woohoo! Which one is your favorite???? The larger ones (top left and bottom right) are meant to be the species Phyllacanthus imperialis, the Sputnik sea urchin! The smaller ones in the other two photos are just meant to be a general Echinoidea species. 

Which sea urchin color do you like best?

Green Sputnik Sea Urchin details 

Phyllacanthus imperialis

A Cidarid urchin found at the Everett's Quarry site in Kakanui in North Otago. The deposit formed around the summit of an extinct underwater volcano in the early Oligocene, and is remarkably rich in fossil diversity. A single 235 gram (8.3 ounce) sample from an upper layer yielded about 300 different species of brachiopods, molluscs, bryozoans, foraminifera, ostracods, corals, echinoderms, serpulids, and barnacles.

If this species was anything like the living members of its genus, it was nocturnal and fed on sponges and other invertebrates.

Most Cidaroid sea urchins live in the deep ocean, but Phyllacanthus species are common in shallow tropical waters. Cidaroids have thick, heavy tests, and robust spines that may be club, fan, or even christmas-tree-shaped.