Morgat, France, 5 meters, 2013, WBN
Concarneau Bay, France, 5 meters, 2005, WB
Echinocardium cordatum is a sea urchin that may reach 9 cm in length. The thin test is globular, slightly oval and its upper face is flattened. It is densely covered by yellowish short thin spines. As it lives buried in sand or mud, this type of spines creates a ventilated space between sand and its tegument preventing asphyxiation. It can bury 10 cm deep in sand where it feeds on various micro-organisms.
Echinocardium cordatum is found from 5 m to 200 m deep, in the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to South-Africa, in the English channel, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Superdomain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Echinodermata (Phylum)
Echinozoa (Subphylum)
Echinoidea (Class)
Euechinoidea (Subclass)
Irregularia (Infraclass)
Atelostomata (Subterclass)
Spatangoida (Order)
Brissidina (Suborder)
Spatangoidea (Superfamily)
Loveniidae (Family)
Echinocardiinae (Subfamily)
Echinocardium (Genus)
Echinocardium cordatum (Species)
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2025.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Image satellite: © Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community.
Données de distribution : Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777) in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-09-17.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Superdomain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Echinodermata (Phylum)
Echinozoa (Subphylum)
Echinoidea (Class)
Euechinoidea (Subclass)
Irregularia (Infraclass)
Atelostomata (Subterclass)
Spatangoida (Order)
Brissidina (Suborder)
Spatangoidea (Superfamily)
Loveniidae (Family)
Echinocardiinae (Subfamily)
Echinocardium (Genus)
Echinocardium cordatum (Species)
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2025.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Bay-Nouailhat A., December 2005, Description of Echinocardium cordatum, [On line] https://european-marine-life.org/30/echinocardium-cordatum.php, consulted on 2025 September 17.
Author
Chargée d’études en environnement marin
Plongeuse professionnelle - Naturaliste
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