[3] Aspidodiadema jacobyi is found in the bathyal zone at depths of over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

It was suggested that in the open sea this would allow the larvae to disperse in ocean currents, surviving in cold waters where little food is available.

[4] Alternatively, another study found that the eggs are surrounded by mucus through which the sperm, which have unusually elongated heads, must penetrate.

[5] In the laboratory, embryos developed over a period of 5 months into echinopluteus larvae measuring over 3000μm which were fed on unicellular algae.

Three further pairs of long arms developed over the next 30 days, after which a posterior process and a ciliated ring appeared successively.

None of the larvae completed metamorphosis into a juvenile and it was suggested that this may have been because the process needed to be initiated by chemical stimuli that were absent in this in vitro experiment.