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Magnificent Fire Urchin

Amazing fact

The plates forming the magnificent fire urchin’s shell have movable joints.

宇久井ビジターセンター

Magnificent Fire Urchin in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The plates forming the magnificent fire urchin’s shell have movable joints.

Source宇久井ビジターセンター — イイジマフクロウニ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Magnificent Fire Urchin

Scientific name: Asthenosoma ijimai
Japanese name: イイジマフクロウニ
Group: Ocean animals

Class: Echinoidea
Order: Echinothurioida
Family: Echinothuriidae
Genus: Asthenosoma

Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Magnificent Fire Urchin” comes from

The Iijima in its Japanese and scientific names honors Professor Iijima, who studied animals.

宇久井ビジターセンター

01

It lives on rocky reefs and coral reefs in the seas from Sagami Bay to Kyushu.

鳥羽水族館 — イイジマフクロウニ

02

Its shell is soft, like a leather bag.

鳥羽水族館 — イイジマフクロウニ

03

Its spines are covered by bag-like sheaths filled with venom.

鳥羽水族館 — イイジマフクロウニ

How the Magnificent Fire Urchin lives

It lives in somewhat deep water.

沖縄美ら海水族館

Basic data

Range: South of Sagami Bay to Kyushu

鳥羽水族館

Where the Magnificent Fire Urchin has been recorded

World map with dots where the Magnificent Fire Urchin has been recorded — Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesJapan Coasts Coral reefs

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

日本語: イイジマフクロウニ
简体中文: 饭岛囊海胆
繁體中文: 飯島囊海膽
한국어: 유연각성게
Italiano: Riccio puntaspilli magnifico

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

鳥羽水族館 — イイジマフクロウニChecked: 2026-11-04
沖縄美ら海水族館 — イイジマフクロウニChecked: 2026-11-07
宇久井ビジターセンター — イイジマフクロウニChecked: 2026-11-07

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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