---
title: "Pot-hole urchin"
description: "Stomopneustes variolaris — Other animals. Stomopneustes variolaris, the black sea urchin or long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin, the only one in its genus Stomopneustes and only species still alive in its family Stomopneustidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/pot-hole-urchin
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pot-hole urchin

> Stomopneustes variolaris — Other animals. Stomopneustes variolaris, the black sea urchin or long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin, the only one in its genus Stomopneustes and only species still alive in its family Stomopneustidae.

- Scientific name: *Stomopneustes variolaris*
- Category: `other` (Other animals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1078
- Wikidata: [Q1984769](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1984769)
- iNaturalist taxon: [349178](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/349178)

## Names

- en: Pot-hole urchin
- fr: Oursin à éclairs gris

## Countries with the most observations

IN (268), TW (119), LK (78), ZA (59), ID (56), KE (19), MU (19), RE (18), AU (13), TH (13), VN (13), PH (10)

## Summary

Stomopneustes variolaris, the black sea urchin or long-spined sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin, the only one in its genus Stomopneustes and only species still alive in its family Stomopneustidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a patchy distribution.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomopneustes

## Photo

![Pot-hole urchin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/pot-hole-urchin/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nikolay Volik · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/13237340

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/pot-hole-urchin?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).