Shell size: 7.5cm across.

Description & Application:
Fascinatingly intricate and more robust than their tropical cousins. These natural sea urchin sea shells are fished from Atlantic Waters before being carefully cleaned to remove the spines and prepared to provide a contemporary porcelain-like feature.

Urchins are found in many environments throughout the oceans of the world and in depths of water over 1000 metres. These unique and colourful shells demonstrate a distinctive five fold symmetry, which is characteristic of the species and can be found as fossils in rocks dating back through geological time to the to the Ordovician period some 400 million years ago.

These specimens are found in the Western Approaches to the Irish Sea. The shells are much sought after both for their roe which is a Japanese delicacy, and as specimen shells prized by collectors world wide.

Classification: Echinus esculentus