第 1266 號，共 1 402 號

Fire urchin

Asthenosoma varium

名字的由來： The name fire urchin probably comes from the painful sting of its spines and its reddish-brown colour.1

需要看醫生不要碰很少致命，但如果被牠的棘刺刺到，要去看醫生。

海膽、海星和蟲

有毒液的棘刺吃：每樣都來一點

對人的危險: 嚴重如果被牠的棘刺刺到，要去看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The fire urchin is a large sea urchin that grows up to 25 cm across. It lives on sand and rubble sea floors and in coral areas across the Indo-Pacific. Its venomous spines can give a painful sting, so it is best left alone.1

分布在

Indo-Pacific, from the eastern Indian Ocean to Japan, the Philippines and New Caledonia. Red Sea records may be a related species.1

印度洋, 太平洋, 珊瑚海, 菲律賓海, 帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海

首頁

It lives on sand and rubble sea bottoms and in coral environments, at depths down to about 167 m. Divers are the people most likely to meet it, and they should be careful not to handle it.1

長度

25 cm (9,8 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,02 km/h（0,01 mph）

游泳, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It feeds on the algal film covering the sea floor, encrusting animals such as sponges and tunicates, and organic detritus.1

Fire urchin 的照片 — Fire urchin。照片：Candace Pratt。 CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Hemispherical body, up to 25 cm across1
Orangish, red, brown or purple colour, sometimes beige or green1
Primary spines are banded, usually with paler bases and darker tips1
Secondary spines are long, slender, blunt and yellowish, mostly near the base of the body1

毒液力量

有毒液的棘刺

尖銳的棘刺帶著毒液。踩到或抓到牠都會很痛。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Each venomous spine has several hollow, spherical capsules filled with toxin, separated by constrictions. These work like hypodermic syringes, injecting the toxin when the spines pierce the skin. The sting is painful and the pain can last several hours.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重如果被牠的棘刺刺到，要去看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

Handling the urchin can cause a painful sting. The pain can last several hours.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its bright colouration warns other animals that its spines are venomous.1

如果牠的棘刺刺到你

把傷口泡在熱水裡，水溫要在傷者能忍受、又不會燙傷的範圍內，並就醫請醫生取出棘刺。不要自己挖出來。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠的棘刺刺到：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲太平洋印度洋珊瑚海菲律賓海帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 8 塊玩具積木排成一排一樣長比花園蝸牛還慢

Fire urchin 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻海馬 大約 0,0015 km/h (0 mph)

Fire urchin 大約 0,02 km/h (0,01 mph)

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Its venomous spines are hollow and filled with toxin, working like tiny syringes.1

Several small fish and some cephalopods shelter among its toxic spines for protection.1

Its body shell is flexible, because its plates overlap like roof tiles instead of being rigidly joined.1

Shrimps and a zebra crab live on or with the urchin, and the urchin is their host.1

Its secondary spines have sensory cells at the tip and help it move and right itself.1

給毒液專家

學名: Asthenosoma varium
類群: 海膽、海星和蟲
家人: Echinothuriidae2
排序: Echinothurioida
各大洲: 印度洋, 太平洋, 珊瑚海, 菲律賓海, 帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海, 海洋
寶寶: The sexes are separate, and eggs (gametes) are released into the water, where fertilisation takes place. The larvae drift for several months before settling on the seabed and becoming juvenile sea urchins.1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3