Asthenosoma varium is a sea urchin (an echinoderm, a member of the phylum that also includes star fish).
Growing up to 22 cm (8.7 in) in diameter, it lives on sand and rubble sea bottoms in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Australia and Southern Japan.
Its venom tipped spines, with distinctive globular swellings below the tip, can inflict a painful sting if handled; the pain lasts as long as several hours.
This capacity, perhaps coupled with its reddish-brown color, has given it the common name Fire Urchin.

It plays host to the commensal shrimp Periclemenes colemani and the zebra crab, Zebrida adamsii.
Asthenosoma varium is a sea urchin (an echinoderm, a member of the phylum that also includes star fish). Growing up to 22 cm (8.7 in) in diameter, it lives on sand and rubble sea bottoms in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Australia and Southern Japan. Its venom tipped spines, with distinctive globular swellings below the tip, can inflict a painful sting if handled; the pain lasts as long as several hours. This capacity, perhaps coupled with its reddish-brown color, has given it the common name Fire Urchin.
It plays host to the commensal shrimp Periclemenes colemani and the zebra crab, Zebrida adamsii.
Asthenosoma varium