Arbacia punctulata
A spherical, dark purple-spined sea urchin used in developmental biology.
The Atlantic purple sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) belongs to the family Arbaciidae and is found in the Atlantic Ocean. This spherical urchin has dark purple spines and a nearly flat underside, reaching up to 8 cm in diameter. Its range in the western Atlantic spans shallow waters from Massachusetts south to Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula, across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida, along the coast from Panama to French Guiana, and in the Lesser Antilles. It typically lives on rocky, sandy, or shelly bottoms.
The species is omnivorous, though one study classified it as a generalized carnivore. In the brown alga *Fucus vesiculosus*, galactolipids and an uncharacterized carbohydrate (but not phlorotannins) act as deterrents against grazing by *A. punctulata*.
For over a century, developmental biologists have used this sea urchin as an experimental model. Its eggs are transparent, easy to manipulate, readily fertilized, and develop rapidly and synchronously. Research on its embryos helped establish the chromosome theory of heredity, describe centrosomes, parthenogenesis, and fertilization. Over the last 30 years, studies have revealed stable mRNA and translational control, isolated and characterized the mitotic apparatus, and identified microtubules as its major structural proteins. Work with *A. punctulata* also provided the first evidence of actin in nonmuscle cells. Additionally, it serves as a model organism for marine sediment toxicity testing and sperm research.
Quick Facts
- Taxon
- Arbacia punctulata
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Atlantic purple sea urchin is a spherical, dark purple-spined sea urchin with a nearly flat oral face, reaching up to 8 cm in diameter. Its natural habitat is in the western Atlantic Ocean, found in shallow water from Massachusetts to Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula, from Texas to Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, the coast from Panama to French Guiana, and in the Lesser Antilles, usually on rocky, sandy, or shelly bottoms.
A. punctulata is omnivorous, consuming a wide variety of prey, although Karlson classified it as a generalized carnivore. Galactolipids and an uncharacterized carbohydrate, but not phlorotannins, have been reported to act as herbivore deterrents in Fucus vesiculosus against this species.
Reader's Guide
For more than a century, developmental biologists have valued the sea urchin as an experimental model organism. Sea urchin eggs are transparent and can be manipulated easily in the research laboratory. Their eggs can be easily fertilized and then develop rapidly and synchronously. For decades, the sea urchin embryo has been used to establish the chromosome theory of heredity, the description of centrosomes, parthenogenesis, and fertilization. Research work during the last 30 years established such important phenomena as stable mRNA and translational control, isolation and characterization of the mitotic apparatus, and the realization that the major structural proteins of the mitotic apparatus are microtubules. Sea urchin studies provided the first evidence of actin in nonmuscle cells. Arbacia punctulata is also a model organism of marine sediment toxicity and for sperm study.
Did You Know?
- The Atlantic purple sea urchin can reach up to 8 cm in diameter.
- It is classified as a generalized carnivore by Karlson.
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