The benefits of sea urchin porridge

[Synonyms] Haiduqi, thorny conch, thorny pot (Shandong Chinese Herbal Medicine Handbook).

[Source] It is the calcareous bone shell of the Echinoidea urchin, the Echinoidea urchin, the Sculptured-ribbed Sea Urchin and the Northern Sculptured-ribbed Sea Urchin of the Echinoidea family.

【Animal form】①Horse dung sea urchin

The whole body is hemispherical, about 3 to 5 cm in diameter, often gray-green, gray-brown or brown-gray, and densely covered with active spines. After the spines are removed, the hard shell is exposed. The flat and concave side with a mouth is called the "oral surface", and the raised surface opposite to it is called the "anti-oral surface". There are 5 calcareous teeth on the oral surface exposed from the mouth, and the surrounding area is the perioral area, which has no spines. There is an anus in the center of the anti-oral surface, and there are effective shell plates around it, including 1 sieve plate, 4 genital plates and eye plates. The other part of the shell plate is divided into 5 ambulacral bands and 5 interambulacral bands arranged alternately. At the equator, the ambulacral bands and interambulacral bands are almost the same width. Every 4 pairs of tube foot holes on the ambulacral band plate are arranged in an oblique arc; the large warts are very small and arranged in longitudinal rows; the warts between the middle warts and the perforated bands are arranged in horizontal horizontal rows. There is 1 large wart and 5 to 6 middle warts arranged in longitudinal rows on the interambulacral band plate. The spines are short, only 5 to 6 mm long.

It lives on the gravel bottom of the seashore, among seaweed or in the cracks of rocks. It is distributed along the coasts of Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian.

②Echinodon serrata, also known as Dalian purple sea urchin.

The morphology is similar to the above species. The whole body is hemispherical, with a diameter of up to 8-10 cm, often purple-brown or black-purple. The shell is thin and brittle. The oral surface is flat, and the anti-oral surface is raised. The ambulacral band is narrow, about 2/3 of the interambulacral band, but it is equal to or slightly wider than the interambulacral band at the edge of the perioral area. Every 6-7 pairs of tube feet holes on the ambulacral band plate are arranged in an oblique arc, with 1 large wart, 2-4 medium warts and most small warts. There is 1 large wart on each interambulacral band plate in the equatorial part, and there are 15-22 medium warts and small warts above and on both sides of the large wart. The spines vary in size, and the large spines are thick and can reach 3 cm in length.

Distributed along the coasts of Liaodong Peninsula and the northern Shandong Peninsula.

③ Finely carved ribbed sea urchin

The body is high conical, usually 4 cm in diameter. The large spines are flat, with reddish-purple horizontal stripes on a yellow-brown or gray-brown background, and sometimes white ones can be seen. The perianal part has 5 heel plates and 5 genital plates; there are 5 interambulary bands and 5 ambulary bands, which are spaced apart from each other, and the horizontal suture of the ambulary band plates is a triangular indentation. Each ambulary band plate in the equatorial part has 1 large wart, 1 medium wart, and many small warts. Each interambulary band plate has 3 large warts, and many medium warts and small warts. There are 6 rows of interambulary podia, which are smaller in width than the ambulary band plates.

It lives in shallow seas with fine sand and mud bottoms, often hiding in seaweed or broken shells. It is distributed from Dalian in the north to Hainan Island in the south.

④ Northern cut-ribbed sea urchin

Similar in shape to the above species, but with a shorter shell, the large spines are light gray-brown, without red-purple markings, and only the base is dark brown. The edges of the indentations on the horizontal sutures of the band plates above the equator are slightly tilted, and the inner end is deeply sunken into a hole.

It lives in shallow seas with muddy bottoms and is distributed along the coasts of Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Zhejiang and other places.

[Collection] Catch in summer. After catching, remove the meat and thorns, wash and dry.

[Medicinal Materials] The dried bone shell is hollow and hemispherical, 3 to 4 cm in diameter and about 2 to 3 cm thick. The flatter side is yellow-brown with a circular mouth hole in the center. The peri-mouth part is slightly concave inwards, and the inner edge of the mouth has 5 "U"-shaped thin flaky teeth connected to each other. The back is brown and raised, with a ten-pointed star-shaped hole in the center, which is formed after the "apical system" falls off. From the "apical system" to the mouth hole, there are calcareous bone plates, which are arranged radially into 10 bands, which are quite regular. Among them, the 5 bands are narrower, the warty protrusions are smaller, and the outer side has countless pores, which is the ambulatory zone. The 5 bands arranged at intervals from the ambulatory zone have larger warty protrusions, and the one without pores is the inter-ambulatory zone. It is hard and light, not easy to break, and the cross section is light blue. It has a slight smell and a spicy taste.

It is mainly produced in the coastal areas of Shandong and Hebei.