Black Long Spine Urchin

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Is there a type of long spine urchin that is half black and half white? I have had this guy for the last several months and when I bought him he was half white and just a baby...I thought maybe that he was so little that their is white but he has at least doubled in size and still remains white. He has not lost any of his spines and he is very active at night...I see him all the time at night, and hides in rocks during the day. I know change of color of spines can signify them dying but this guy is definately not dying...he has gotten so much bigger and spines have grown very long already.

Plus, can he be in with a puffer? I have him in a 135g reef tank and am cycling a new tank for puffers and would like to move hiim there if I can as 1. cant have any type of clean up with puffer, and 2. he moves my coral frags everynight!

thanks

 

I have never seen one like that so I can't help you there. Puffers in the wild are opportunistic omnivores, they eat most anything and everything including urchins if hungry enough. But if fed well the puffer should leave it alone.

Welcome to my world. I have to rearrange my Seahorse tanks at least twice a week because of my little bulldozers. Is it moving your frags of are they getting stuck to it as it rolls over them looking for food.

I find all kinds of interesting stuff stuck to my 2 urchins, one was cruising around a week or so ago with 2 snails, 4 crabs and a piece of rock with a mushroom stuck to it. Mine also actually broke apart 2 rocks that I had epoxied together when dry a few weeks ago.

 

OMG...that is too funny! This guy just rolls over everything....I have a blue tuxedo urchin that grabs the frags and carries them around with him. Right now the tuxedo has a couple empty shells, 1 crab, and the top of him is covered in my waiving hand anthelia that he has had since it was just one little piece...it is actually growing all over him now!

The funniest thing was in my old tank I dropped a little tiny plastic scrapper into the tank..about the size of a credit card and for a couple weeks he carried that around on top of him....when I went to clean the tank I would take it off of him and when done place it back next to him and next day he would have it back on. :

 

i have a long black spined urchin and its spikes are black with white bands on them, maybe its from were they have broken and grown back??, thats a nice looking urchin though it looks like mine just white spines;D.

Sean

 

I got rid of mine,I had a long spined and a pencil urchin. They bulldozed my coralline like crazy!!!

 

You cannot have them with puffers nor triggers.

I see nothing unusual with the coloration.