#5034 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Red Sea Urchin
Mesocentrotus franciscanus
🪼 Jellyfish, starfish, worms & co 📍 outside Europe
📍 Seldovia, AK 99663, USA
📍 Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA
📍 San Mateo County, CA, USA
📍 Sitka Sound, Sitka, AK, US
📍 Comox-Strathcona, British Columbia, Canada
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Paul Norwood · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Justin Hofman · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © juliamarkey · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Wendy Feltham · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Braden J. Judson · CC0
- 6. Seldovia, AK 99663, USA:© Erin McKittrick · CC BY 4.0
- 7. Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA:© sea-kangaroo · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. San Mateo County, CA, USA:© Cricket Raspet · CC BY 4.0
- 9. Sitka Sound, Sitka, AK, US:© Karen L. Johnson · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Comox-Strathcona, British Columbia, Canada:© Ian Guthrie · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The red sea urchin ( Mesocentrotus franciscanus ) is a sea urchin found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California. It lives in shallow waters from the low-tide line to greater than 100 m (330 ft) deep, and is typically found on rocky shores sheltered from extreme wave action.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 5,788 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Alexander Emanuel Agassiz in 1863 (163 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Red Sea Urchin
- scientific name
- Mesocentrotus franciscanus
- class
- Echinoidea
- order
- Camarodonta
- family
- Strongylocentrotidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 5,788
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1863 by Alexander Emanuel Agassiz
relatives· Strongylocentrotidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 992313, Wikidata Q28912671, GBIF 6474262, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.