Reef safeness of Parhippolyte uveae and Euchidaris tribloides

[Alpha_and_Gec]

My LFS has some Parhippolyte uveae, does anyone know whether these are reef safe? What do they typically eat? They look like cool shrimps and they cost the same as skunk cleaners.

Also picked up a Euchidaris tribloides today, I‘m not certain whether I want him in the sump or out in the DT. As far as I know they‘re reef safe, but since reef - safeness varies amongst pencil urchins, I‘m a bit skeptical.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I can’t find much on the shrimp, but it’s reportedly reef-safe: it typically lives in anchialine pools (landlocked pools connected to the ocean [or other body of water] by underwater tunnels), depending on collection location may be very active during the day or only active at night (described as photophobic from some locations), likes caves and tunnels a lot, is thought to be a protandric simultaneous hermaphrodite, is reportedly a cleaner species (haven’t come across much info regarding how likely it is to act as a cleaner though), etc.

I’d imagine it eats a normal, meat supplemented with algae diet.

For the pencil urchin (the top one is scientific study based, the bottom one is aquarium hobby/industry observations):

Yeah, from what I can find, these guys are technically considered spongivores* (i.e. they prefer to eat sponges), but when they can't get sponges they've been found to eat just about literally anything (one study found that these would even eat the wooden or fiberglass tank walls if starved enough**); so I'd imagine that how reef-safe they are likely depends on how much food they have available that they would prefer over the corals in the tank.
*Source:

Spongivory by Eucidaris tribuloides from Salvador, Bahia (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

Spongivory by Eucidaris tribuloides from Salvador, Bahia (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) - Volume 82 Issue 2

www.cambridge.org

**Source:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1539784

This is a Eucidaris tribuloides - not reef safe unfortunately:

Looks to be Eucidaris tribuloides:

"its search for food, which can include sponges, corals, bivalves, gastropods, bryozoans, along with detritus and some algae."*

"It feeds primarily on algae and coral but they can feed on small invertebrates as well. "**

*Source:

Section: Urchins: Group: Common Urchins: Species: Eucidaris tribuloides (Mine Urchin, Slate Urchin, Club Urchin, Pencil Urchin)​

Marine Aquarium Library: Common Urchins, Order: Cidaroida - Family Cidaridae, Eucidaris tribuloides
www.saltcorner.com
**Source:

Pencil Urchin - Gulf Specimen Marine Lab​

E-1621 PENCIL URCHIN, Eucidaris tribuloides This sluggish, nocturnal sea urchin has thick, wooden like spines. It feeds primarily on algae and coral but they can feed on small invertebrates as well. They are a very hardy species and can range from a light brown to a reddish brown. HABITAT They...

gulfspecimen.org

Edit: From the threads I've seen about damage caused by these guys, it seems they prefer to eat LPS.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

I can’t find much on the shrimp, but it’s reportedly reef-safe: it typically lives in anchialine pools (landlocked pools connected to the ocean [or other body of water] by underwater tunnels), depending on collection location may be very active during the day or only active at night (described as photophobic from some locations), likes caves and tunnels a lot, is thought to be a protandric simultaneous hermaphrodite, is reportedly a cleaner species (haven’t come across much info regarding how likely it is to act as a cleaner though), etc.

I’d imagine it eats a normal, meat supplemented with algae diet.

For the pencil urchin (the top one is scientific study based, the bottom one is aquarium hobby/industry observations):

Gotcha. In the sump it goes then, guess I gotta make space in the lower floors for my urchin collection now.