| Heliaster helianthus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Forcipulatida |
| Family: | Heliasteridae |
| Genus: | Heliaster |
| Species: | H. helianthus |
| Binomial name | |
| Heliaster helianthus | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Heliaster helianthus, the sun star, is a species of Asteroidea (starfish) in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in shallow water rocky habitats and in the kelp forests off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
Heliaster helianthus is a multi-armed starfish, the number of arms usually being in the range 28 to 39, and the diameter typically being between 16 and 20 cm (6 and 8 in). The aboral (upper) surface is brown with reddish tubercles while the oral (under) surface is white or yellowish-white. [2]
The disc is broad and the ossicles (plate-like components in the skin) in the proximal parts of the arms (closest to the disc) are connected to those of the neighbouring arms by connective tissue, forming inter-arm septa. This means that only a small part of each arm is free, the rest appearing to form part of the disc. [3]
This species is present in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, along the west coast of South America. Its range includes Ecuador, Peru and Chile, and it is the only species in its genus present in Chile where it is easily observed on rocks in shallow water. [2]
Heliaster helianthus is preyed on by the starfish Meyenaster gelatinosus . In general, small individuals are eaten whole and large individuals are immune from attack, but medium-sized individuals lose arms by autotomy. Having trapped its prey, M. gelatinosus everts its stomach over several arms of its victim, which become autotomised in response to the predation. [4] When this happens, the arms do not detach at the point where they become free, but higher up at their bases; at the same time, a split occurs along the connective tissue linking the arms to adjoining ones, indicating that a layer of mutable collagen is present there. [3]
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish are also known as asteroids due to being in the class Asteroidea. About 1,900 species of starfish live on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from warm, tropical zones to frigid, polar regions. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, at 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the surface.
The Echinasteridae are a family of starfish in the monotypic order Spinulosida. The family includes eight genera and about 133 species found on the seabed in various habitats around the world.
Linckia guildingi, also called the common comet star, Guilding's sea star or the green Linckia, is a species of sea star reported from the shallow waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Asexual reproduction in starfish takes place by fission or through autotomy of arms. In fission, the central disc breaks into two pieces and each portion then regenerates the missing parts. In autotomy, an arm is shed with part of the central disc attached, which continues to live independently as a "comet", eventually growing a new set of arms. Fragmentation occurs on star fishes.
Asterias forbesi, commonly known as Forbes sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Stylasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Stylasterias forreri, the velcro star, is the only species in the genus. It is found on the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States.
Nepanthia belcheri is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is found in shallow water in Southeast Asia and northeastern Australia. It is an unusual species in that it can reproduce sexually or can split in two by fission to form two new individuals. As a result, it has varying numbers of arms, and Hubert Lyman Clark, writing in 1938, stated, "It is a literal truth that no two of the 56 specimens at hand, nearly all from Lord Howe Island, are exactly alike in number, size and form of arms".
Heliaster kubiniji is a species of starfish in the order Forcipulatida. It is commonly known as the gulf sun star, the common sun star or estrella de mar de golfo and it occurs in the intertidal zone of the Pacific coast of California, Mexico and Nicaragua.
Marthasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Both species in the genus are commonly known as the spiny starfish.
Heliaster microbrachius is a species of Asteroidea in the family Heliasteridae.
Heliaster is a genus of Asteroidea in the family Heliasteridae.
Neoferdina cumingi, also known as Cuming's sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Patiria chilensis is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean along the coasts of South America. It is a broadly pentagonal, cushion-like starfish with five short arms.
Luidia magellanica is a species of starfish in the family Luidiidae. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coast of South America.
Meyenaster is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is a monotypic genus and the only species is Meyenaster gelatinosus which was first described by the Prussian botanist and zoologist Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen in 1834. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of South America.
Tetrapygus is a genus of sea urchins in the family Arbaciidae. It is a monotypic genus and the only species is Tetrapygus niger which was first described by the Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of South America.
Echinaster luzonicus, the Luzon sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Echinasteridae, found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes lives symbiotically with a copepod or a comb jelly, and is prone to shed its arms, which then regenerate into new individuals.
Echinaster callosus, the warty sea star or the banded bubble star, is a species of starfish found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. The disc and five slender arms are covered with white, pink, red or violet warts, often forming transverse bands of colour on the arms.
Starfish, or sea stars, are radially symmetrical, star-shaped organisms of the phylum Echinodermata and the class Asteroidea. Aside from their distinguishing shape, starfish are most recognized for their remarkable ability to regenerate, or regrow, arms and, in some cases, entire bodies. While most species require the central body to be intact in order to regenerate arms, a few tropical species can grow an entirely new starfish from just a portion of a severed limb. Starfish regeneration across species follows a common three-phase model and can take up to a year or longer to complete. Though regeneration is used to recover limbs eaten or removed by predators, starfish are also capable of autotomizing and regenerating limbs to evade predators and reproduce.
Luidia savignyi is a species of starfish belonging to the family Luidiidae. The species is found in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region. It is a large starfish and preys on other echinoderms.
Media related to Heliaster helianthus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Heliaster helianthus at Wikispecies