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Metalia
sternalis Lamarck,
1816
family Brissidae
This irregular urchin test was sitting on
the sand at about 50 ft. at Makua, O`ahu. It was larger than most
other Hawaiian species except the common Brissus latecarinatus,
but it appeared to be different. I sent the photo to Dr. Richard
Mooi at the California Academy of Sciences. He replied:
The
reason that the big urchin is different from B. latecarinatus
is that it seems to be a good match for Metalia sternalis.
Since some of the identification depends on things like pedicellariae
and pore-pair counts, it's a little difficult to wing it from the
photo. However, gross matching with sources other than Mortensen
(who has remarkably poor image coverage of this important echinoid)
strongly suggests M. sternalis (Lamarck, 1816).
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