''Echinocardium'' is a genus of

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

s of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Loveniidae Loveniidae is a family of heart urchins in the order Spatangoida. Description and characteristics These sea urchins are called "heart urchins" due to the specific shape of their test, looking like a heart when seen from below (more or less depen ...

, known as heart urchins. The name is derived from the Greek ἐχῖνος (''echinos'', "

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

, urchin") and καρδία (''kardia'', "

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

").

Taxonomy

The genus was first described in 1825 by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

, and the type species is ''Spatangus pusillus'' Leske, 1778 by subsequent designation. In 1836, the genus ''Amphidetus'' was described by

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, and is now considered a synonym of ''Echinocardium''.Fischer, A.G. 1966. Echinozoa: Spatangoids. pp. U543-U628, figs 427-514 ''in'' Moore, R.C. (ed.). ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part U. Echinodermata. 3. Asterozoa-Echinozoa''. Kansas : Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press Vol. 2. 613/ref>

Species

* '' Echinocardium australe'' Gray, 1855 * '' Echinocardium cordatum'' ( Pennant, 1777) * '' Echinocardium fenauxi'' Péquignat, 1963 * '' Echinocardium flavescens'' (

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

, 1776) * '' Echinocardium gibbosus''

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

& Desor, 1847 * '' Echinocardium intermedium'' Mortensen, 1907 * '' Echinocardium laevigaster''

* '' Echinocardium mediterraneum'' (Forbes, 1844) * '' Echinocardium mortenseni'' Thiéry, 1909 * '' Echinocardium pennatifidum''

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, 1868 * '' Echinocardium sebae'' Gray

References

Sources

*
MarBEF Data System - ERMS - Echinocardium Gray, 1825
Spatangoida Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{echinoidea-stub