Pincushion urchin eating snails?

[Kapachuka3]

My white pincushion urchin flipped over one of my turbo snails and tore him apart and ate some of him I think. I found the snails “shield” type thing they use to close themselves in there shells and I also found pieces of him on the sand. he hasn’t moved in a while and I’ll probably take him out soon. Anybody else ever have this happen I thought urchins were herbivores.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My white pincushion urchin flipped over one of my turbo snails and tore him apart and ate some of him I think. I found the snails “shield” type thing they use to close themselves in there shells and I also found pieces of him on the sand. he hasn’t moved in a while and I’ll probably take him out soon. Anybody else ever have this happen I thought urchins were herbivores.

I have a pincushion and it bothers none of my inverts
Once snail’s trapdoor is open and it’s upside down, it becomes vulnerable to attack

 

[Kapachuka3]

I have a pincushion and it bothers none of my inverts
Once snail’s trapdoor is open and it’s upside down, it becomes vulnerable to attack

Ok so now my urchin has black stuff coming out of him near his butt. Npot being stupid but that’s what happening. Never had this happen before you know what it means?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok so now my urchin has black stuff coming out of him near his butt. Npot being stupid but that’s what happening. Never had this happen before you know what it means?

Likely expelling waste

 

[homer1475]

Pic of urchin?

They are technically listed as omnivores, but prefer algae to meat. Never seen it happen myself.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pic of urchin?

They are technically listed as omnivores, but prefer algae to meat. Never seen it happen myself.

Opportunity for any invert
Not unusual to see them on top of a dead fish

 

[davidcalgary29]

Pic of urchin?

They are technically listed as omnivores, but prefer algae to meat. Never seen it happen myself.

My fire urchin ate my feather duster! I rescued what was left of it, but the urchin went right back to it and ate the rest of it. I don't know what they eat in the wild, but I polychaete tube worms would not have been my first guess.

 

[Robert Ranciato]

Never. Had a pincushion for years Never touched anything living

 

[EricR]

I witnessed my pink urchin (looks like pincushion) carrying around a margarita snail on his back -- snail upside down.
Didn't think anything of it then later urchin had the snail pinned and devoured it.
*had four margarita snails for about a year,,, all fine through multiple tank transfers,,, now down to three!

Also was too late to save one small blue-legged hermit crab.

*some might speculate that the snail/hermit must've been dead/dying but not in my opinion from what I witnessed.

 

[FishAccordingToMe]

Hey Guys!

I'm wondering if different species/types have different diets and behaviors.

I have what LiveAqua lists as a Purple Short Spine Pincushion Urchin (Pseudoboletia sp.). He is small, very white, with purple spikes. I think many people have regular pincushion urchins (liveaqua: Pincushion Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus)) I'm guessing that a lot of confusion comes from unlisted/unresearched differences between the two.

My Short Spine prefers to eat (in order):
1) Red Ogo - LOVES it! ... Also the red pigment in the ogo makes the urchin waste orange and glow under blue light. Haha
2) Chaeto - Eats it, but doesn't like it
3) Inverts - He has eaten turbo snails but not cerith, a feather duster, and a tuxedo urchin
4) Nuisance Algae - I have never seen him eat hair or film algae or anything off the glass

Regular Pincushion Urchins may have a more herbivore diet compared to the Short Spine.

Does anyone else have urchins that follow that pattern? Maybe we can narrow down tendencies and take care of them better.

 

[Kapachuka3]

Hey Guys!

I'm wondering if different species/types have different diets and behaviors.

I have what LiveAqua lists as a Purple Short Spine Pincushion Urchin (Pseudoboletia sp.). He is small, very white, with purple spikes. I think many people have regular pincushion urchins (liveaqua: Pincushion Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus)) I'm guessing that a lot of confusion comes from unlisted/unresearched differences between the two.

My Short Spine prefers to eat (in order):
1) Red Ogo - LOVES it! ... Also the red pigment in the ogo makes the urchin waste orange and glow under blue light. Haha
2) Chaeto - Eats it, but doesn't like it
3) Inverts - He has eaten turbo snails but not cerith, a feather duster, and a tuxedo urchin
4) Nuisance Algae - I have never seen him eat hair or film algae or anything off the glass

Regular Pincushion Urchins may have a more herbivore diet compared to the Short Spine.

Does anyone else have urchins that follow that pattern? Maybe we can narrow down tendencies and take care of them better.

Im not really sure about mine cause my tanks clean as heck and i just feed him nori.

 

[sfin52]

Trap door off and snail upside down that was already a dead snail

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

CUC doing its job. and then it’s business. Don’t we all lol

 

[EricR]

Hey Guys!

I'm wondering if different species/types have different diets and behaviors.

I have what LiveAqua lists as a Purple Short Spine Pincushion Urchin (Pseudoboletia sp.). He is small, very white, with purple spikes. I think many people have regular pincushion urchins (liveaqua: Pincushion Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus)) I'm guessing that a lot of confusion comes from unlisted/unresearched differences between the two.

My Short Spine prefers to eat (in order):
1) Red Ogo - LOVES it! ... Also the red pigment in the ogo makes the urchin waste orange and glow under blue light. Haha
2) Chaeto - Eats it, but doesn't like it
3) Inverts - He has eaten turbo snails but not cerith, a feather duster, and a tuxedo urchin
4) Nuisance Algae - I have never seen him eat hair or film algae or anything off the glass

Regular Pincushion Urchins may have a more herbivore diet compared to the Short Spine.

Does anyone else have urchins that follow that pattern? Maybe we can narrow down tendencies and take care of them better.

My urchin was just labeled "pink urchin" at the LFS I bought from.
Basically looks like a pincushion urchin to me.
When I search "pink urchin" online, I usually find "rose pink urchin" and pics of those vary a lot but usually are more obvious pink than mine, although shape/spines look the same.

His order of preference for food is:
1. Coralline on the rocks -- carves the rocks bald pretty quickly.
2. Nori when I'm trying to get him interested in something other than coralline on the rocks.
3. Algae wafers are hit and miss -- goes a couple weeks where he loves 'em then a couple weeks where he won't touch them.

Seems to be grazing on the following quite a bit but never seems to make a dent in any of this:
- Coralline and film algae on the back glass
- Hair algae

*as I mentioned in post #9 above, I have witnessed him eat a couple of small inverts that appeared to be in good health and had been going strong for 1+ years.

 

[FishAccordingToMe]

Im not really sure about mine cause my tanks clean as heck and i just feed him nori.

Nice. What does he look like?

 

[Kapachuka3]

Nice. What does he look like?

Bring white and about the size of a baseball. Not I would not get another one or any other type of urchin. They are not captive bred. I just bought one though because he was 15 bucks And I thought I could rescue him.

 

[Kapachuka3]

Bring white and about the size of a baseball. Not I would not get another one or any other type of urchin. They are not captive bred. I just bought one though because he was 15 bucks And I thought I could rescue him.

*Bright white.

 

[FishAccordingToMe]

After a brief check:

Blue Tux = Peaceful
Pincushion = Peaceful
Purple Small Spine = Semi-aggressive

I guess I know why my little dude is such a troublemaker now! haha

 

[CanuckReefer]

Hey Guys!

I'm wondering if different species/types have different diets and behaviors.

I have what LiveAqua lists as a Purple Short Spine Pincushion Urchin (Pseudoboletia sp.). He is small, very white, with purple spikes. I think many people have regular pincushion urchins (liveaqua: Pincushion Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus)) I'm guessing that a lot of confusion comes from unlisted/unresearched differences between the two.

My Short Spine prefers to eat (in order):
1) Red Ogo - LOVES it! ... Also the red pigment in the ogo makes the urchin waste orange and glow under blue light. Haha
2) Chaeto - Eats it, but doesn't like it
3) Inverts - He has eaten turbo snails but not cerith, a feather duster, and a tuxedo urchin
4) Nuisance Algae - I have never seen him eat hair or film algae or anything off the glass

Regular Pincushion Urchins may have a more herbivore diet compared to the Short Spine.

Does anyone else have urchins that follow that pattern? Maybe we can narrow down tendencies and take care of them better.

Yes different diets and tendencies.... a mostly herbivore when out of algae etc may turn to other things to survive. I am inclined to strongly agree with @sfin52 here however, already dead snail. I have a white Pincushion, never touched a thing, also rockborer same. Used to have a Pencil as well, it went rogue on some soft coral and got the boot. Likely because of overstock / lack of food, and they are one that has history of occasionally hitting at coral....

 

[Kapachuka3]

Yes different diets and tendencies.... a mostly herbivore when out of algae etc may turn to other things to survive. I am inclined to strongly agree with @sfin52 here however, already dead snail. I have a white Pincushion, never touched a thing, also rockborer same. Used to have a Pencil as well, it went rogue on some soft coral and got the boot. Likely because of overstock / lack of food, and they are one that has history of occasionally hitting at coral....

How did u feed ur pencil urchin?