Fire urchin spines. Close up of a fire urchin (Asthenosoma varium), revealing the venomous spines. These spines have small venom-filled vesicles at th

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Fire urchin spines. Close up of a fire urchin (Asthenosoma varium), revealing the venomous spines. These spines have small venom-filled vesicles at their tips (bubble-like structures, blue and white). These inject the venom into wounds caused by contact with the spines, giving an extremely painful and long-lasting sting. Photographed off Mabul, Sabah, Malaysia.

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Size: 3437px × 5134px
Photo credit: © MATTHEW OLDFIELD/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, asia, asian, asthenosoma, biological, biology, close-, detail, echinoderm, fauna, fire, invertebrates, mabul, malaysia, malaysian, marine, nature, painful, poisonous, sabah, sea, sharp, south-east, southeast, spine, spines, spiny, sting, stinging, toxic, tropical, underwater, urchin, varium, venom, water, wildlife, zoological, zoology