Pincushion Urchin with Stringy Spines

[Nick4978]

Has anyone ever heard of or seen a pincushion urchin where it's spines get stringy? I have 2 of them in my tanks and their spines have always been stiff, but I was over at a friends house and saw that his pincushion still seemed to have all of his spines, but many of them looked almost like hair algae flowing back and forth with the current. But it wasn't green and it wasn't algae, it just flowed like hair algae would. I didn't get to take a picture because we were in a hurry to leave, but has anyone ever heard of that? I can't seem to find anything about "stringy" spines, only losing spines, which this one doesn't appear to have a problem with. He was up on the glass just doing his thing when I noticed it.

 

[Brandont21]

Mine has the “hard spines” but also has “soft wavy” spines. Seems like he grabs stuff with them like feelers

 

[Nick4978]

Mine has the “hard spines” but also has “soft wavy” spines. Seems like he grabs stuff with them like feelers

Okay. I've never seen it on mine, but maybe I just didn't catch it at the right angle or lighting or something but if yours is doing fine and it also has the same thing, then I won't worry about it. Thanks!

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

They're called tube feet, all echinoderms have them. They're used for mobility, feeding and to grab objects. Google "sea urchin tube feet" and look at a few, tell me if they match.

 

[Nick4978]

They're called tube feet, all echinoderms have them. They're used for mobility, feeding and to grab objects. Google "sea urchin tube feet" and look at a few, tell me if they match.

Yep. Just saw a video after googling that and that's exactly what I saw. Thanks!