It was first described by the American engineer and marine zoologist Alexander Agassiz in 1864 as Psammechinus pulcherrimus.

[2] Its range extends along the coasts of Korea, Taiwan and China, and in Japan from Kyūshū to Ishikari Bay.

[3][4] This sea urchin has a thick test and a large number of tiny, fine, sharp spines.

[7] As is the case with other sea urchins, H. pulcherrimus liberates eggs and sperm into the water column and the echinopluteus larvae spend several months drifting with the plankton.

[8] They are stimulated to settle on the seabed by the attachment of diatoms and by the presence in the water of particles of an alga such as Hizikia fusiformis which grows around the coasts of Japan.