mogurnda March 19, 2018 Share March 19, 2018 Ever wonder how long urchins live? I just lost my variegated urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) after 11 years. Started out as a pea-sized hitchiker with TBS live rock when I set up a tank in 2007. I wish I had a photo of it then. After it picked up and moved the ATO float switch in the sump/frag tank for the 65 gallon reef upstairs, causing a small flood, it got evicted to the 90-gallon mixed reef downstairs. My wife loved it, because it was always wearing some kind of headgear. In this photo, it is just some rubble, but anything that wasn't securely glued could be carried and deposited in some random place. In the past week, the spines were getting sparse, and I expected the end to be near. Here it is this morning. Dead, but still pretty. You can see some of the spines nearby. It's sad, but I figure that 11 years is a pretty long life for an urchin. Or maybe it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 19, 2018 Share March 19, 2018 11 years definitely seems like a long time, but who knows? Pretty cool to have had it that long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite March 20, 2018 Share March 20, 2018 I just read an article that says this species has a life expectancy of only 4 years. The article is mainly focused on red Sea urchins which it says can live for 100 years, and mentions purple urchins, which it says can live for 50 years. I wonder if yours lived so long was due to the lack of predators in captivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda March 20, 2018 Author Share March 20, 2018 11 years definitely seems like a long time, but who knows? Pretty cool to have had it that long. Yep. I'll be heartbroken when the 14 year-old turbo goes. I just read an article that says this species has a life expectancy of only 4 years. The article is mainly focused on red Sea urchins which it says can live for 100 years, and mentions purple urchins, which it says can live for 50 years. I wonder if yours lived so long was due to the lack of predators in captivity. Any idea how they figured out the lifespans? That's pretty cool. I expect you're right about the predation. Even with the spines, a hogfish could make short work of one of these. This urchin had no fear of that, and plenty of algae to graze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite March 21, 2018 Share March 21, 2018 It is confusing that some animals tend to have longer lives in captivity, while others die because of removal from the ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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