Ben Grupe: Former member of Team Shanks
Welcome! If you are at all curious about purple sea urchins, you’ve come to the right place. I recently completed my Master’s degree at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), which is the University of Oregon’s marine field station. My thesis research (PDF 8MB) focused on the ecology of purple sea urchins as it pertains to microhabitat.
When I moved to Oregon in 2003 to join Alan Shanks’ lab, I quickly became engrossed with sea urchins. I still find myself amazed that these creatures are capable of scraping holes out of the rock, which is achieved by the 
scraping action of their spines and teeth. Of course, many sea urchins also live outside of pits, as they are by no means a necessity. My research questions took shape as I dwelled on the ecological importance that might be associated with living in either of these microhabitats, which would seem to be associated with distinctly different physical and biological forces.
scraping action of their spines and teeth. Of course, many sea urchins also live outside of pits, as they are by no means a necessity. My research questions took shape as I dwelled on the ecological importance that might be associated with living in either of these microhabitats, which would seem to be associated with distinctly different physical and biological forces. Living inside a protected microhabitat would seem to offer obvious advantages. First and foremost, pit urchins are well-protected. Protected from waves that threaten with dislodgment. Protected from boulders that are tossed to and fro by heavy surf. Protected from predators that are unable to remove sea urchins from pits. Life inside a pit, however, could conceivably alter food supply, decrease fertilization success, or somehow increase mortality.
One of the benefits of researching purple sea urchins at OIMB is the fantastic number of rocky intertidal sites that contain thousands of intertidal urchins. I was able to find tidepools at many sites that contained urchins living both inside and outside pits. At Cape Arago and Cape Blanco, these types of tidepools allowed me to compare the effects of microhabitat on population structure, morphology, growth, movement, and mortality. For an overview of my research findings, click on the links below.
