Gumboot Chiton
The gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) is the largest chiton in the world, up to about 33 centimeters long, and lives on rocky shores of the North Pacific. Its eight shell plates are buried under a thick, red-brown leathery mantle.
The gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) is the largest chiton in the world, up to about 33 centimeters long, and lives on rocky shores of the North Pacific. Its eight shell plates are buried under a thick, red-brown leathery mantle.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Gumboot Chiton in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Lophotrochozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Plates Under the Skin
Unlike other chitons, whose plates are exposed, the gumboot's plates are covered by the girdle. After the animal dies, the plates may wash ashore and are called "butterfly shells".
Slow Grazer
It grazes on red algae and sheds waste through an anus near its tail. The big foot clings powerfully to rock.
Food and Fauna
Some Pacific Coast peoples ate the chiton, and it is sometimes called "wandering meatloaf". See Lined Chiton.
Gumboot Chiton at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Cryptochiton stelleri |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Polyplacophora |
| Order | Chitonida |
| Family | Acanthochitonidae |
| Field Guide group | Lophotrochozoa: Mollusca (Mollusks) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Largest of its class at up to 36 cm; a reddish leathery girdle completely hides its eight shell plates, earning it the name 'wandering meatloaf'. |
| Class | Polyplacophora |
| Maximum length | About 33 centimeters |
See Also
- Lined Chiton — a smaller chiton
- Mossy Chiton — a hairy chiton