Heliaster

Heliaster
Temporal range: 3–0 Ma Pliocene to present
Heliaster microbrachius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Forcipulatida
Family: Heliasteridae
Genus: Heliaster
Gray, 1840

Heliaster is a genus of Asteroidea (sea stars) in the family Heliasteridae.

Species

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Heliaster canopus Perrier, 1875South Pacific Ocean
Heliaster cumingi (Gray, 1840)Gulf of California
Heliaster helianthus (Lamarck, 1816)southeastern Pacific Ocean
Heliaster kubiniji Xantus, 1860eastern Pacific Ocean
Heliaster microbrachius Xantus, 1860east Pacific
Heliaster polybrachius H.L. Clark, 1907Gulf of California
Heliaster solaris A.H. Clark, 1920Española Island in the Galápagos Islands.

Fossil record

Whole specimens of Heliaster microbrachius have been found preserved in calcite-cemented quartz in Southwest Florida that dates to the Pliocene, 3.5 to 2.5 million years ago (Castilla et al. 2013). Today H. microbrachius is found only in the Pacific Ocean: on the coast of Panama, and Acapulco in Mexico. This suggests that greater connection between the two oceans gave the species a more extensive range in the past (Castilla et al. 2013).

References

  1. ↑ WoRMS
  2. ↑ Raimondi, Peter T.; Sagarin, Raphael D.; Ambrose, Richard F.; Bell, Christy; George, Maya; Lee, Steven F.; Lohse, David; Miner, C. Melissa; Murray, Steven N. (2007). "Consistent Frequency of Color Morphs in the Sea Star Pisaster ochraceus (Echinodermata:Asteriidae) across Open-Coast Habitats in the Northeastern Pacific1". Pacific Science. 61 (2): 201–210. doi:10.2984/1534-6188(2007)61[201:cfocmi]2.0.co;2. ISSN 0030-8870.
  3. 1 2 Sonnenholzner, Jorge; Brandt, Margarita; Francisco, Vanessa; Hearn, Alex; Luzuriaga, María; Guarderas, Paulina; Navarro, Juan Carlos (2012-08-04). "Echinoderms of Ecuador". Echinoderm Research and Diversity in Latin America. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 183–233. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_6. ISBN 978-3-642-20050-2.
  4. ↑ Porter, Carlos E. (1915). "Los Heliasteridae de Chile: Heliaster helianthus" (PDF). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural (in Spanish). 19 (1–2): 17–21.
  5. ↑ "Heliaster kubiniji common sun star, gulf sun star". Mainpage Reeflex. 2016-01-09. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  6. ↑ Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College
  7. ↑ Fisher, W. K. (1931). "REPORT ON THE SOUTH AMERICAN SEA STARS COLLECTED BY WALDO L. SCHMITT" (PDF). Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum. 78.