''Leiaster'' is a genus of
echinoderms
An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larv ...
belonging to the family
Ophidiasteridae
The Ophidiasteridae (Greek ''ophidia'', Οφιδια, "of snakes", diminutive form) are a family of sea stars with about 30 genera. Occurring both in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, ophidiasterids are greatest in diversity in the Indo-Pacif ...
.
The genus has almost
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
.
Species:
*''
Leiaster coriaceus''
*''
Leiaster glaber''
*''
Leiaster leachi''
*''
Leiaster speciosus''
*''
Leiaster teres''
References
Ophidiasteridae
Asteroidea genera
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