Lined Chiton
The lined chiton (Tonicella lineata) is a small, brightly colored mollusc of the North Pacific rocky shore. Like all chitons, its back is covered by eight overlapping armor plates.
The lined chiton (Tonicella lineata) is a small, brightly colored mollusc of the North Pacific rocky shore. Like all chitons, its back is covered by eight overlapping armor plates.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Lined 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.
Eight Plates: How Does Armor Stay Flexible?
Overlapping plates let a chiton curl into a ball when dislodged and cling tightly to rock using a muscular foot and a girdle that acts as a suction skirt. Some chitons have hundreds of tiny eyes embedded in their shell plates.
Magnetite-Tipped Teeth
The tongue-like radula carries rows of teeth capped with magnetite, a hard iron oxide, and are among the hardest biological materials known. The chiton uses them to scrape coralline algae off rocks.
Ancient Lineage
Chitons belong to Polyplacophora, a class known from the Cambrian. They show a primitive mollusc body plan with a creeping foot and a mantle that secretes protective structures.
Lined Chiton at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Tonicella lineata |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Polyplacophora |
| Order | Chitonida |
| Field Guide group | Lophotrochozoa: Mollusca (Mollusks) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Eight articulating dorsal aragonite valves embedded in a leathery muscular girdle. |
| Class | Polyplacophora |
| Plates | Eight |
See Also
- Evolution — ancient mollusc lineages
- Biodiversity — rocky intertidal communities