Echinocardium is a genus of sea urchins of the family Loveniidae, known as heart urchins. The name is derived from the Greek ἐχῖνος (echinos, "hedgehog, urchin") and καρδία (kardia, "heart").
Taxonomy The genus was first described in 1825 by John Edward Gray, and the type species is Spatangus pusillus Leske, 1778 by subsequent designation.International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1954. Opinion 209. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 3: 367-392
In 1836, the genus Amphidetus was described by Louis Agassiz, 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. [U613]
Species
Echinocardium australe Gray, 1855 Echinocardium cordatum (Pennant, 1777) Echinocardium fenauxi Péquignat, 1963 Echinocardium flavescens (Müller, 1776) Echinocardium gibbosus Agassiz & Desor, 1847 Echinocardium intermedium Mortensen, 1907 Echinocardium laevigaster Agassiz Echinocardium mediterraneum (Forbes, 1844) Echinocardium mortenseni Thiéry, 1909 Echinocardium pennatifidum Norman, 1868 Echinocardium sebae Gray
References
Sources
MarBEF Data System - ERMS - Echinocardium Gray, 1825