Toxopneustes

Toxopneustes
Temporal range:
The flower urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus) is potentially dangerous to humans
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinoidea
Order: Camarodonta
Family: Toxopneustidae
Genus: Toxopneustes
L. Agassiz, 1841
Type species
Echinus pileolus
Lamarck, 1816
Synonyms
  • Boletia L. Agassiz, 1841

Toxopneustes is a genus of sea urchins from the tropical Indo-Pacific. It contains four species. They are known to possess medically significant venom to humans on their pedicellariae (tiny claw-like structures). They are sometimes collectively known as flower urchins, after the most widespread and most commonly encountered species in the genus, the flower urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus).