What is this? Reef safe?

[*unique*]

Pls help I’d and lmk if safe or not

 

[fishywishy]

That’s a Pencil urchin, they are reef safe with caution.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Pencil urchin, don't know if they're reef safe or not. How did you even get that?!?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Looks like the pencil urchin Eucidaris tribuloides to me:

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

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.

 

[Reefing102]

Agre with the above. My experience with them is not reef safe. Killed a large maze brain I had. Mine are sumped

 

[MnFish1]

I have had them with no problems with coral eating - however, it's difficult to see if yours was exactly the same since your picture is somewhat too blue. (I have had both SPS and LPS and soft corals with them). The biggest problem I had was they seem to have a fair bit of strength to move corals and rocks that are not attached

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm curious to know too how you got the urchin haha

 

[fishywishy]

I'm curious to know too how you got the urchin haha

Probably got it on some LR, that’s how I got mine.