Do urchins lose all their spines before they die?

[crister13]

Ordered 4 urchins off LA and 3 came in PERFECT condition. 1 came in brown water and lost about 1/4 of his spines. Hes not moving but I'm acclimating because ik they can be very stressed and not move. Is there a chance my sick/stressed one is alive??? He has 3/4 of his spines left, but isn't moving them or his sweeper tentacles. The spines are kind of up against his body and not sticking out, but some are. Is he ok?

 

[Keithhjs]

It is my understanding that losing spines is a sign of their decline. If it arrived it brown water and spines are dropping off I would hold off adding it to your tank unless you have a seperate quarantine tank. Some people I have heard will even call it a loss as soon as it starts shedding spines and euthanize it by freezing or such. Good luck.

 

[crister13]

Its not losing any more now. I think they got broken off. He couldn't do any harm if added correct? It's a pincushion btw. I think I'm going to put him in my fuge so nothing picks on him. Should I?

 

[crister13]

He's not sticking to the bucket. Does that mean anything? Here are some pics... What do you think?

 

[crister13]

Does he look alive???

 

[54seaweed]

does it smell
kinda sounds like he's on his way out

 

[crister13]

The water he was in smelled weird...... And was brown..... Does that mean he's a goner?

 

[54seaweed]

put him in QT and keep him under close observation
but sounds like his a casualty

 

[crister13]

I don't have a QT but I'll check when I get home. His mouth is closed though. Does that mean anything?

 

[Keithhjs]

Just curious don't you have triggerfish I thought triggerfish would eat Urchins?

 

[Kio707]

Some will... Most blue jaws, pink tail, and nigers won't... JME.

 

[crister13]

I have a huma huma and Niger and they don't pay attention to them. They wreck snails though.

 

[bioteacher]

Just a personal experience....I had my pin cushion lose almost all of his pins due to a salinity issue in my tank. I had my salinity up around 1.030 for several months due to a bad hydrometer. He looked pretty bad but he kept moving and I could always see his sweeper tentacles. His activity never changed but he looked like crap. Anyway, after correcting that issue he has slowly recovered. This all happened in July and he is almost back to normal now, but still is regrowing spines.

I would say contact live aquaria cause it doesn't sound good. Hopefully you got some picks of the brown water he arrived in. Is he giving you any indication that he is even still alive?

 

[crister13]

He was dead. I got a full refund.

 

[crister13]

But thanks for the help guys. Appreciate it!