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Cidaridae

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Description and characteristics

Cidarid sea urchins are characterized by their stout skeleton : the test is thick and hard, with massive perforated tubercles (never crenulated) surrounded by a crown of secondary tubercles, but no primary tubercles in the interambulacra regions. These tubercles hold massive spines, thick, strong and often very long, and showing sometimes odd shapes (thorny spines, fans, clubs, Christmas trees...).

The order Cidaroida is the basalmost of current sea urchins, and most of the species included in this family are abyssal, even if a handful of species remain quite common in tropical shallow waters, like Eucidaris or Phyllacanthus.

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)