Long spine urchin eating purple gorgonian

smartwater101 · 06/20/2018, 04:20 PM

Everything looked good this morning. But I came home to see the urchin on top of the gargonian. Assumed it was cleaning and realized it was eating the flesh of the coral.

The urchins body is ~2" so he's big and I target feed it from time to time. (Piece of krill a couple days ago)

Anyone else have this happen?

Jonviviano · 06/21/2018, 06:46 AM

My beloved, now HUGE longspine urchin ( about the size of a softball) was a model citizen in my reef for about a year. He started off about t2 inches across and grew quickly. I woke one morning to see a SPS colony completely wiped out. Could not put my finger on the cause until the next morning i saw his devouring another colony next to it...His saliva almost seemed to melt the flesh away from the coral, Even where he had not touched yet. Needless to say he is banished to the refugium. Unfortunate because he is beautiful. Lesson learned. Move him or he will strike again.

Uncle99 · 06/21/2018, 08:45 AM

Some love them, I don't like them at all.
Trouble, trouble, trouble, they have a unquie tooth configuration which can rasp right through coraline algae to bare rock, run over corals, had one that ate a hole right through a clam shell.

That being said, they are the best algae eaters by far, but I find it easier to limit nutrients somI don't have any algae to eat.

Beware. Use Caution...

06/20/2018, 04:20 PM	#1
smartwater101 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 382	Long spine urchin eating purple gorgonian Everything looked good this morning. But I came home to see the urchin on top of the gargonian. Assumed it was cleaning and realized it was eating the flesh of the coral. The urchins body is ~2" so he's big and I target feed it from time to time. (Piece of krill a couple days ago) Anyone else have this happen? __________________ 160 mixed reef: Hippo tang, Foxface, clownfish, 25+ nano gobies/blennies/cardinals

06/21/2018, 06:46 AM	#2
Jonviviano Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 417	My beloved, now HUGE longspine urchin ( about the size of a softball) was a model citizen in my reef for about a year. He started off about t2 inches across and grew quickly. I woke one morning to see a SPS colony completely wiped out. Could not put my finger on the cause until the next morning i saw his devouring another colony next to it...His saliva almost seemed to melt the flesh away from the coral, Even where he had not touched yet. Needless to say he is banished to the refugium. Unfortunate because he is beautiful. Lesson learned. Move him or he will strike again.

06/21/2018, 08:45 AM	#3
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	Some love them, I don't like them at all. Trouble, trouble, trouble, they have a unquie tooth configuration which can rasp right through coraline algae to bare rock, run over corals, had one that ate a hole right through a clam shell. That being said, they are the best algae eaters by far, but I find it easier to limit nutrients somI don't have any algae to eat. Beware. Use Caution...