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Ha’uke’uke ‘Ula’ula — Red Slate Pencil Urchins of Hawaii

Posted: December 25, 2007

Red slate pencil urchins are some of the most visual stunning sea urchins in Hawaii.  Known as “ha’uke’uke ‘ula’ula” in Hawaiian, they are vibrant red in color and can reach 10 inches in diameter from spine to spine.  Their spines are about the thickness of a pencil and are blunt — they are not sharp like other urchins. 

 

This photo features a 6-inch ha’uke’uke ‘ula’ula casting a shadow on the Ka’u Coast of the Big Island along the King’s Trail between Honu Apu and Punalulu.  If you look closely, you can see 2 glass shrimps or opae, in the shadow cast by the urchin. 

Red slate pencil urchins (Heterocentrotus mammillatus) often use their blunt spines to lodge themselves tightly in cracks or other openings in the reef which makes them nearly impossible to dislodge. 

Ha’uke’uke ‘ula’ula like shallow tide pools.  In this photo taken of a tide pool at Halona Point between Sandy Beach and Hanauma Bay on the east coast of Oahu, their vibrant red color gives them away.  Look closely to see two ha’uke’uke ‘ula’ula living with fluorescent green lobed coral.  If you look even closer you can see a school of fingerling flagfish or “aholehole” in Hawaiian seeking shelter from predators in the tide pool.