First record of sand dollars; Clypeaster humilis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea: Clypeasteridea) from Hendorabi Island, Persian Gulf

The 800 species of echinoids alive today, coupled with the wonderful fossil record, make the echinoids excellent candidates for a great variety of studies, from reproductive biology to evolution. The irregular echinoid Clypeaster Lamarck is locally common in Oligocene to Quaternary sedimentary deposits in the Caribbean region. Clypeaster, seen from the postEocene epoch. Clypeaster humilis; is such a class of Echinoidea that this species seen in the Persian Gulf but Iranian waters. This species resembles C. humilis (LESKE, 1778) a living species of the Persian Gulf in Arabia coastal and Red Sea but the present paper recorded from Hendorabi Island for the first time. The species is widely distributed in tidal and shallow waters of tropical and subtropical regions. Clypeaster humilis, ranging from the Persian Gulf, in depth of sandysoft sediments to about 1015 meters.