The Heliasteridae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Asteroidea 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 ...

(sea stars) in the order

Forcipulatida The Forcipulatida are an order of sea stars, containing three families and 49 genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of bio ...

. It includes two genera: ''Heliaster'' from the East Pacific (

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, including offshore islands), and ''Labidiaster'' from southernmost South America, Antarctica and

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

oceans.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species includes two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and seven

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

within the family Heliasteridae: *'' Heliaster'' Gray, 1840'' **'' Heliaster canopus'' Perrier, 1875 **'' Heliaster cumingi'' (Gray, 1840) **'' Heliaster helianthus'' (Lamarck, 1816) **'' Heliaster kubiniji'' Xantus, 1860 **'' Heliaster microbrachius'' Xantus, 1860 **'' Heliaster polybrachius'' H.L. Clark, 1907 **'' Heliaster solaris'' A.H. Clark, 1920 *'' Labidiaster'' Lütken, 1872'' **''

Labidiaster annulatus ''Labidiaster annulatus'', the Antarctic sun starfish or wolftrap starfish is a species of starfish in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in the cold waters around Antarctica and has a large number of slender, flexible rays. Description '' ...

'' Sladen, 1889 **'' Labidiaster radiosus'' Lütken, 1871

References

* Echinoderm families {{Asteroidea-stub