The green urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, is a circumpolar species, distributed from Artic Alaska to Washington State. It is found from the intertidal zone down to 130 meters. Along with large algae such as bull kelp, green algae, and laminarians, they scrape diatoms and coralline algae off rocks. They are harvested commercially for their roe, which is a delicacy in Japan.

Scientific name: Greek strongly (round, compact) and kentron (a point, spine); and Drobak (a fiord in Norway where it was first described).

Photo by Eric Munk. References (a complete list) in the text include: O'Clair (1998), Gotshall (1994), Kessler (1985) or Barr (1983).

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