Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/File:Eucidaris tribuloides (Slate-pencil Urchin).jpg

Slate pencil urchin

Voting period is over. Please don't add any new votes. Voting period ends on 24 Oct 2010 at 15:12:20 (UTC)

Original - The slate pencil urchin, Eucidaris tribuloides, is a cidaroid sea urchin that inhabits littoral regions of the Atlantic Ocean. As a member of the basal echinoid order Cidaroida, its morphological, developmental and molecular genetic characteristics make it interesting to the evolutionary relationships in this group.

Reason

Technically excellent image that is a Commons FP and just perfect for its taxobox.

Articles in which this image appears

Slate pencil urchin (Atlantic)

FP category for this image

Animals/Others

Creator

Nick Hobgood

• Support as nominator --Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 15:12, 15 October 2010 (UTC)
• comment the caption is confusing, and it is not clear if the coral beneath has any role to the urchin. Nergaal (talk) 23:34, 15 October 2010 (UTC)
  • Slate Pencil Urchins feed on algae, turtle grass, kelp, sponges, mussels, barnacles, and dead fish/decaying matter [in the wild]. [1] Another source claims they eat Pavona and Pocillopora corals - the species shown here does not fall into either group. So the urchin could be grazing the surface for algae, or just happen to be walking across. I'd be surprised if corals were susceptible to algal growth, though. The coral species seems to be something along the lines of File:Colpophyllia natans (Boulder Brain Coral) entire colony.jpg (not yet nominated because no article). Also relayed question to Nhobgood. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 08:05, 16 October 2010 (UTC)
    • Thanks for the nomination. I am far from an expert on these urchins but from personal observation, the few that I have seen do not seem to feed on coral, whereas the much more abundant Echinometra viridis urchins are frequently seen in large groups on top of partially eaten brain corals of different species. I did run across another E. tribuloides on a Porites coral but I would speculate that both specimens were just traveling over the hard corals and not feeding on them as there was no evidence of predation on the corals.Nhobgood (talk) 11:02, 17 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support - lovely photo. Less jargon in the caption would be good though. --Avenue (talk) 12:49, 18 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support: Another excellent capture. (Am loving the marine life noms.) Maedin\^talk 12:50, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support Good capture and nice lighting, despite the environmental limitations. S Masters (talk) 09:16, 22 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support although the caption should still be improved upon. Nergaal (talk) 19:34, 22 October 2010 (UTC)
  • The caption used here is only for the benefit of voters; it's not the one used at POTD or in articles. We're not voting on the caption. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 19:41, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Promoted File:Eucidaris tribuloides (Slate-pencil Urchin).jpg --Makeemlighter (talk) 01:21, 26 October 2010 (UTC)