Size: Up to about 19mm long. Shape: Relatively narrow girdle with the shell making up 80-90% of the width. Valves are relatively tall, and possess a definite keel. Shell colour: White or cream but deposits of iron/manganese can occur as black or rust coloured streaks or patches. Sculpture: Valve sculpture of chain like rows. Girdle: Covered with densely packed bluntly pointed, slightly ribbed scales. Animal: Gills confined to the latter half of the animal (merobranch).
- Intermediate valves have a distinct keel
- Valve sculpture of chain like rows
Lives on the underside of stones, pebbles and shells embedded in silty sediment. It feeds by grazing material from the rock surface using its radula. It occurs very low on the shore down to depths of 250m.
Most common species of subtidal chiton around the British Isles. Occurs from Spitsbergen and the Barents Sea, Iceland and south to the Bay of Biscay and north Spain.
- Baxter, J.M. and Jones, A.M. 1987. Molluscs: Caudofoveata Solenogastres Polyplacophora and Scaphopoda. London.