The species was endemic to the Galápagos Island group, where it appears to have been strictly restricted to the waters around the Isla Espanola.

The tube feet at the tips of the rays are particularly sensitive to chemicals, allowing the Heliaster solaris to detect odors, such as food.

Members of the class Asteroidea (including Heliaster solaris) exhibit both asexual (regeneration and clonal) and sexual (gonochoric) means of reproduction.

Life cycle: Embryos hatch into planktonic larvae and later metamorphose into pentamorous juveniles which develop into young sea stars with stubby arms.

The increase of the water temperatures led to the turning off of the plankton production and species like the 24-ray-rayed Sunstar or Heliaster solaris could not find again.

And combined with the effects of an increasingly heavy tourism industry in the islands at the Time, appears to have led to the specie’s decline and possible extinction.