Heliaster

Heliaster is a genus of Asteroidea (sea stars) in the family Heliasteridae.^[1]

Heliaster Temporal range: 3–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Pliocene to present
Heliaster microbrachius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Asteroidea
Order:	Forcipulatida
Family:	Heliasteridae
Genus:	Heliaster Gray, 1840

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).