Echinometra lucunter lucunter ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Madeira, Patrícia, Kroh, Andreas, Cordeiro, Ricardo, De, António M., Martins, Frias & Ávila, Sérgio P., 2019, The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean), Zootaxa 4639 (1), pp. 1-231 : 172

Erroneous— Echinometra lucunter lucunter ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Reports for the Azores:

Echinometra subangularis Desmoulins—Agassiz 1872: 234 .

See: Mortensen (1943a: 357–368, figs. 172–175, pl. 41, figs. 1–5, pl. 42, figs. 12–14, pl. 43, figs. 1–13, pl. 44, fig. 9, pl. 64, figs. 17, 20–24); Pawson (1978: 20–23, figs. 8–10).

Occurrence: Atlantic, from North Carolina and Bermuda, southwards to Brazil ( Mortensen 1943a, Schultz 2006), and eastwards from Cape Verde to Angola (H.L. Clark 1925, Mortensen 1936); the subspecies E. lucunter polypora is restricted to Ascension and St. Helena islands ( Pawson 1978).

Depth: 0–45 m ( Mortensen 1943a).

Habitat: hard substrates (bioeroder; Mortensen 1943a).

Larval stage: planktotrophic ( Mortensen 1921).

Fossil record: Ericichnus bromleyi, a relatively recent described ichnospecies portraying groove-borings found in a Pliocene fossiliferous outcrop in Malbusca (Santa Maria Island) is thought to be made by the sea urchin Echinometra lucunter (see Santos et al. 2015).

Commercial value: edible ( Lawrence 2007).

Remarks: Agassiz (1872) listed the Azores under the geographical range of Echinometra lucunter (under the name Echinometra subangularis ), which is clearly a misprint. The author never mentioned the archipelago again, whether listing the examined specimens’ locations or discussing the distribution range for this species. This tropical species does not occur in the present-day shallow waters of the Azores and no specimens were ever reported from the area.