Summary ⁶

Acanthopleura echinata is a Southeast Pacific species of edible chiton, a marine polyplacophoran mollusc in the family Chitonidae, the typical chitons.

Description ⁷

Animal of very large size, up to 158 mm in examined specimens. Tegmentum smooth to shiny (but often eroded), dark reddish-brown, with occasional small blue spots. Lateral areas hardly raised, smooth except for two radial rows, one of 5–9 round granules indenting sutural edge. Anterior valve with some 10 radial rows of round granules; space between rows smooth. Central areas with raised, well-defined, smooth jugal band bordered by shallow, longitudinal grooves with short, wavy, longitudinally oriented riblets on pleural areas. Girdle upper surface with erect, strong, spike-like spines, round in cross section, up to 8 mm long in large specimens (longer if not broken), often encrusted. Girdle bridges empty (After Ferreira 1986). According to Osorio (2002) this is a dioecious species, which can reach a maximum length of 200 mm.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Juan Francisco Araya, Marta Esther Araya, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acanthopleura_echinata,_Playa_Mansa.jpg
2. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/5258718
3. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/3543501
4. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://eol.org/media/5258719
5. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://eol.org/media/9308207
6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthopleura_echinata
7. (c) Juan Francisco Araya, Marta Esther Araya, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/143335

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• SeaLifeBase
• World Register of Marine Species

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