Conservation & Threats

Echinoids are well adapted to a wide range of conditions, this could attribute to their success as a group (Moore 1964). Echinoderms as a phylum are sensitive to low salinity levels, as well as changes to other environmental parameters such as temperature and light (Moore 1964). It is unlikely that food would become a limiting resource for sea urchins as they have a versatile diet, feeding on a variety of plant and animal matter (Ruppert et al. 2004). Possessing a calcareous skeleton could make echinoids vulnerable to calcification if there was a change in pH levels (Dupont et al. 2010), although for this to happen the change would have to be quite sudden and dramatic. Echinoids have high adaptive capabilities because they are extremely fecund and reach sexual maturity at a young age (Ruppert et al. 2004). Due to these factors, it is hard to conclude if calcification would be a threat to T. alexandri. The IUCN has not classed T. alexandri as a threatened species, and based on their characteristics it is unlikely that they are under any immediate threat.