Lurking out on the reefs of the Philippines is the jolliest creature known to man, the ever-ebullient Bunbu-kun. Its permanent countenance of childlike wonder and joy is enough to warm the heart of even the most curmudgeon-y of aquarists, for, as Sinatra so sonorously stated, “When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.” But just what is the Bunbu-kun? (image above: Bunbu-kun & a Cirrhipathes heart. Feel the love! Credit: Umib?zu)
It turns out these endearing creatures are sea urchins. Or, rather, these were sea urchins. For now, this urchin is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, rests in peace. Its metabolic processes are now history. It’s kicked the bucket. It has shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain on the bleeding choir invisible. This is an ex-urchin! Specifically, this is the test (i.e. the “shell”) of an ex-urchin.
Taxonomically speaking, these are a type of irregular, flattened urchin known as heart urchins. As best I can gather, these belong amongst the dozen or so species of the genus Plagiobrissus, whose members can be found the world over. And in life, it would have looked something like this…
But apparently not all species share the same wide-eyed grin as this dear fellow. In images of other taxa, there is only a mouth (technically, the “peristome”, which functions as a mouth) but no “eyes”. At the top of the Bunbu-kun’s head is another opening, which functions as an anus. What purpose the “eye” openings have is beyond me, as they seem unique to this species.
It should come as little surprise that this creature is known entirely from the diveblogs of Japanese divers. The Bunbu-kun is arguably the marine pinnacle of “kawaii”, the Japanese obsession with cute things. Despite my best efforts, I failed to find a translation for this creature’s given name. (Perhaps some of our readers more fluent in Japanese can chime in with a translation?)
Most of the images in this article were taken off Cebu Island in the Philippines by the good folks at Aquarius Divers. If you’d like to have your own underwater adventure with this irascible little echinoderm bon vivant, I’m sure they could help make it happen. And don’t forget to purchase your officially licensed Bunbu-kun garb…
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