Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Heliaster cumingi
estrella de mar, sol de mar, Red sun star
Low tide, Uncommon in the Galapagos Islands until El Niño 1982-83, now scarce.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Echinodermata
Class
Asteroidea
Order
Forcipulatida
Family
Heliasteridae
Genus
Heliaster
Species
cumingi
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Asterias cumingii Gray, 1840, Asterias solaris Carpenter, 1856, fide Appeltans et al. (2010)
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Perú, Ecuador including Galapagos Islands
- Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
- Azzaroli, M.L. (1974) Notes on Some Echinoderms from the Galapagos Islands. Gruppo Ricerche Scientifiche e Tecniche Subacquee, pp. 1-8.
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. (1998) A Field Guide to Sea Stars and other Echinoderms of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia, 83 pp.
- Maluf, L.Y. (1991) Echinoderm Fauna of the Galápagos Islands. In: James, M.J. (ed.): Galápagos Marine Invertebrates. Taxonomy, Biogeography, and Evolution in Darwin's Islands. Plenum Press, New York and London, p. 345-367.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Heliaster cumingi", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=7986. Accessed 6 June 2026.