Coelopleurus

Coelopleurus Temporal range: Eocene
Coelopleurus floridanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Echinoidea
Subclass:	Euechinoidea
Order:	Arbacioida
Family:	Arbaciidae
Genus:	Coelopleurus

Coelopleurus is a genus of echinoids. Fossil records date back to the Eocene, with remains found in Europe and North America.

Characteristics

Test of a Coelopleurus exquisitus.

These abyssal sea urchins are characterized by their surprisingly brighr color pattern, usually red and white. Even more surprisingly, their test (skeletton) is brightly colored too, even after drying or, sometimes, fossilisation.^[1]

Species

According to World Register of Marine Species:^[2]

• Coelopleurus australis H.L. Clark, 1916
• Coelopleurus carolinensis Cooke, 1941a †
• Coelopleurus castroi Maury, 1930 †
• Coelopleurus exquisitus Coppard & Schultz, 2006
• Coelopleurus floridanus A. Agassiz, 1872
• Coelopleurus granulatus Mortensen, 1934
• Coelopleurus interruptus Döderlein, 1910
• Coelopleurus longicollis A. Agassiz & H.L. Clark, 1908
• Coelopleurus maculatus A. Agassiz & H.L. Clark, 1907
• Coelopleurus maillardi (Michelin, 1862)
• Coelopleurus melitensis Zammit-Maempel, 1969 †
• Coelopleurus singularis Nisiyama, 1966
• Coelopleurus undulatus Mortensen, 1934a
• Coelopleurus vittatus Koehler, 1927

Sources

• Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 179)
• Kroh, A. (2014). Coelopleurus L. Agassiz, 1840a in Kroh, A. & Mooi, R. (2014) World Echinoidea Database (through World Register of Marine Species).

External links

• Mah, Christopher L. "Coelopleurus : The most gorgeous urchin you never heard of!". The Echinoblog.
• "Coelopleurus". Echinoid Directory.
• Coelopleurus in the Paleobiology Database

References

1. Mah, Christopher L. "Coelopleurus : The most gorgeous urchin you never heard of!". The Echinoblog..
2. Coelopleurus on WoRMS.