Toxopneustes elegans Flower Sea Urchin Sea Hedgehog Echinoderma Echinozoa Echinoidea Regularia Toxopneustidae

Toxopneustes elegans Flower Sea Urchin cm 8-10 Sea Hedgehog Echinoderma Echinozoa Echinoidea Regularia Toxopneustidae.
Family: Toxopneustidae.
Common name: Elegant Venomous Hedgehog, Black Streaked Flower Urchin.
Syn. Boletia elegans.

Toxopneustes elegans is a species of sea urchin endemic to Japan. Like the closely related flower hedgehog (Toxopneustes pileolus), it is venomous: the flower-like pedicellariae can deliver a painful sting if touched.
Toxopneustes elegans is one of four species in the genus Toxopneustes, which literally means "poisonous breath" in Greek.
It has no common English name, but is known as kurosuji-rappa-uni (クロスジラッパウニ) in Japanese (literally "black-streaked flower hedgehog").
Toxopneustes elegans resemble the more common flower urchins, but are smaller, reaching a maximum diameter of only 10 cm.
Toxopneustes elegans is endemic to Japan. They can be found from Sagami Bay in Honshu to the waters around Amami and Okinawa Islands. They inhabit coral reefs, rocks, sand and seaweed beds at a depth of between 2 and 20m from the surface.