Sukashikashipan - Sukashikashipan

A marine animal belonging to the phylum Echinodermata and the family Xenopus. This large, brown sea urchin is shaped like a disk with five keyholes. It is just over 12 centimeters in diameter and less than 2 centimeters thick. Its surface is covered with tiny spines less than 1 millimeter long, with five petal patterns on the upper surface and branching grooves like leaf veins on the underside. The mouth is in the center of the underside and the anus is at a point halfway between the mouth and the edge of the shell. It buries its body shallowly in the sand and mud of shallow seas and feeds on decaying matter in the sand and mud. The spawning season is from July to August. It is found from central Honshu southwards and in Southeast Asia.

[Michio Shigei]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

棘皮(きょくひ)動物門ウニ綱スカシカシパン科に属する海産動物。円盤に5個の鍵穴(かぎあな)をあけたような形の、茶褐色の大形カシパンウニ。直径12センチメートル余り、厚さ2センチメートル未満。表面は長さ1ミリメートルに満たない微細な棘(とげ)で一面に覆われ、上面には5枚の花びら模様が、下面には葉脈のような枝分れした溝がある。口は下面中央、肛門(こうもん)は口と殻縁の中間部分の一点にある。浅海の砂泥中に浅く体を埋め、砂泥中の腐食物を摂食する。産卵期は7～8月。本州中部以南、東南アジア方面に分布する。

［重井陸夫］

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