(O.F. Müller, 1776)
Yellow Sea Potata
Description
Colouration
Test rounded anteriorly, almost vertical before the fasciole. The greatest height usually at the anterior edge of the fasciole. Length up to 5-9 cm, yellow or rose in colour.
Ambulacrum
Frontal ambulacrum not sunk. Besides the subanal fasciole, an inner fasciole is present, surrounding the frontal ambulacrum and the apical system.
No dental apparatus. There are no gill or gill-cuts at the peristomial edge of the test. Sphaeridia present, not in grooves.
Tube-feet
Tube-feet confined to the ambulacra (E. flavescens test).
Spines
Spines of various lengths. A variable number of larger spines is situated above the ambitus. Small spines form the fascioles.
Pedicellariae
Globiferous pedicellariae, which are usually numerous and conspicuous, are darkly pigmented or yellow, and have a slender stalk, without free projecting rods. The blades have usually 6-8 long, slender teeth at the terminal opening. The tridentate pedicellariae have leaf-shaped blades, with the edges of the lower part irregularly serrated. The edges of the blades of the triphyllous pedicellariae are nearly smooth, with only a few serrations at the base (E. flavescens pedicellariae).
Habitat
The species lives buried in coarse gravel, between 5-325 m depth.
Distribution
The species is common in the North Sea. Elsewhere it is distributed from Finmark and Iceland to the Azores and the Mediterranean. It is not known from Greenland.