Heliaster

Heliaster
Temporal range: 3–0 Ma
↓
 Pliocene to present
Heliaster microbrachius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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.[1]

Species

Image Scientific name Distribution
Heliaster canopus Perrier, 1875 South Pacific Ocean[2]
Heliaster cumingi (Gray, 1840) Gulf of California [3]
Heliaster helianthus (Lamarck, 1816) southeastern Pacific Ocean[4]
Heliaster kubiniji Xantus, 1860 eastern Pacific Ocean[5]
Heliaster microbrachius Xantus, 1860 east Pacific[6]
Heliaster polybrachius H.L. Clark, 1907 Gulf of California[7]
Heliaster solaris A.H. Clark, 1920 Española Island in the Galápagos Islands. [3]

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. ^ a b 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.
  • Castilla, Juan Carlos, Sergio A. Navarrete, Tatiana Manzur, and Mario Barahona. 2013. Heliaster helianthus. Chapter 15, pp. 153–160 in John M. Lawrence, ed. 2013. Starfish. Biology and Ecology of the Asteroidea. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Gray J.E. (1840). A synopsis of the genera and species of the class Hypostoma (Asterias Linnaeus). Annals of the Magazine of Natural History 6: 175-184; 275-290


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