Callochiton crocinus

Taxobox
name = "Callochiton crocinus"
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Polyplacophora
ordo = Neoloricata
subordo = Ischnochitonina
familia = Callochitonidae
genus = "Callochiton"
species = "C. crocinus"
binomial = "Callochiton crocinus"
binomial_authority = (Reeve, 1847)
synonyms = "Chiton crocinus" Reeve, 1847
"Chiton versicolor" A. Adams, 1852
"Callochiton platessa" Suter, 1913
"Levicoplax platessa" Iredale and Hull, 1925
"Callochiton platessa" Suter, 1913
"Paricoplax crocina" Iredale and Hull, 1929
"Paricoplax perscrutanda" Iredale and Hull, 1929

"Callochiton crocinus" is a species of chiton in the family Callochitonidae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the North and South islands of New Zealand, and southern Australia from Western Australia to southern Queensland including Tasmania.

Habitat

This chiton lives under rocks at the low water mark, in clear water situations.

Description

The shell is of moderate size, smooth to the eye, but actually densely finely granulose. The lateral areas are only slightly raised, and there are no pits or longitudinal grooves on the central area. The head valve has 16 slits, the median valves three, and the tail valve 14. The girdle is thick, composed of a dense mass of elongate spicules, the tops of which impart a minutely scaly external surface.

Coloration is variable, greenish-buff to reddish-brown, often mottled or streaked in darker brown.

Length is up to 36 mm, and the width is up to 21 mm.

References

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