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Climate Shifts » Blog Archive » What would eat a spiny urchin?!

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The authors have observed Diadema antillarum preyed upon by the two helmet shells Cassis madagascariensis and Cassis tuberosa in the Virgin Islands (Schroeder, 1962). When these gastropod stumble upon an urchin on which they hunger to cater, they elevate the foot anteriorly, wiggle up, and get under way upon the dupe, pinning it beneath. Within about 10 minutes the proboscis rasps a puncture in the check up on about 6 to 10 mm. in diameter for feeding. The helmets may persist on top of the urchins for an hour or more. At times Diadema was found from start to finish crushed below them. Surprisingly, the spines hardly ever sense the foot of these on the loose gastropod.

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