Ischnochiton maorianus

Taxobox
name = "Ischnochiton maorianus"
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Polyplacophora
ordo = Neoloricata
subordo = Ischnochitonina
familia = Ischnochitonidae
genus = "Ischnochiton"
species = "I. maorianus"
binomial = "Ischnochiton maorianus"
binomial_authority = Iredale, 1914
synonyms = "Chiton longicymba" Quoy and Gaimard, 1835

"Ischnochiton maorianus" is a species of chiton in the family Ischnochitonidae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand including the Chatham Islands.

Habitat

This chiton lives under intertidal rocks.

Description

The shell is of moderate size, narrow, with the tail valve disproportionately large. The end valves have dense radial riblets, and the median valves have the surface minutely granulated to almost smooth over the central areas. The lateral areas are raised, with eight to twelve radial riblets. The head valve has nine to twelve slits, and the tail valve has eleven.

The animal is fast moving (for a chiton), and will quickly crawl to the underside of a stone after it has been overturned.

Coloration is extremely variable, mostly light green or brownish, mottled or longitudinally streaked in darker green or brown.

Length is up to 44 mm, and the width is up to 20 mm.

References

* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1