Red pencil urchins are abundant, at least off the Kona coast, where the 8- to 12-inch-wide (spines included) urchins are a common sight. At night, I’ve read, the bright red “pencils” turn a pale pink.

This brightly colored sea urchin has short, blunt spines that are not sharp and poisonous like other sea urchin species. They live all over our shallow coral reefs and come in colors from pink, red to ...