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¹ Sathyabama University, Centre For Ocean Research, Chennai, India DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v18_12_06 Viewed : 3850 - Downloaded : 3766 Salmaciella oligopora (Clark,1916), a rare sea urchin species which was initially described as Genus Salmacis from Tasmanian coast, Australia in 1916 was later recorded in the Philippines Archipelago in 2015. Till date there is no report on occurrence of S.oligopora in Indian waters. This paper reports the distribution of temnopleurid sea urchin S.oligopora for the first time between Chennai and Pondicherry Coasts, South East Coast of India. Echinoides were collected at depths of 20-30 m by gill nets during April 2016 to December 2016. 4 specimens were identified as Salmaciella oligopora based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis using 18S rRNA sequencing. Salmaciella oligopora collected from India was redescribed with photographs and compared with other species from GenBank based on molecular data through nucleotide analysis in BLASTn (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool of nucleotide) and the result showed 99% similarity in Genbank sequences. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed close relationship to the Temnopleuridae family. This record extends the northern range of this species and indicates a wider but patchy distribution. Keywords : Salmaciella oligopora, taxonomy, molecular phylogeny, South East Coast of India