Rhyssoplax canaliculata

Description 4

Small, 14 to 26mm long, 9 to 15mm wide. Plates and skirt/girdle are bright pink, and along the crest is a pale (or alternatively, black) stripe. Commonly there is a wedge-shaped paler marking or either side of the crest (or is that only when the central marking is black?). There is almost a keel along the crest of the plates. There are 20 to 22 well defined, flattened beaded radial ribs on the front plate. The rear plate has 12 to 16 beaded radials. The other plates have 3 to 5 beaded radials. There are 16 to 20 front to back grooves on either side of the crest of each plate.

Distribution 4

Subtidal to 60m. Common around oyster beds. North Island, South Island, Stewart Island.

References 4

New Zealand Mollusca, Marine Land and Freshwater Shells, A W B Powell, 1979

Synonyms 4

Chiton (Rhyssoplax) canaliculatus (Quoy and Gaimard, 1835)
Chiton canaliculatus (Quoy and Gaimard, 1835) (original combination)
Chiton insculptus (A. Adams, 1852)

Sources and Credits

  1. Tony Wills, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), uploaded by Tony Wills
  2. (c) jeanmck, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by jeanmck
  3. (c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Wills
  4. (c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

iNaturalist NZ Map

Places North Island, South Island, Stewart Island