Rhyssoplax stangeri

Description 4

Small chiton, 18 to 20mm long, 11 to 12mm wide. The girdle is covered in small scales "banded with light blue, green, and white" (Suter). The plates are usually pale green with dark green spots and streaks, but might be buff through orangey-brown. Head and tail plates with about 20 beaded radial ridges, other plates with 3 or 4. The plates are smooth along the crest and a short distance either side, then further out becoming scored with lines running front to back.

Distribution 4

Found in the intertidal zone and in shallow water attached to shells and the underside of boulders and stones. North Island, north of South Island.

Synonyms 4

Chiton stangeri (Reeve, 1847) (original combination)

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=724147

References 4

New Zealand Mollusca, Marine Land and Freshwater Shells, A W B Powell, 1979
Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca. Henry Suter, 1913

Sources and Credits

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

More Info

iNaturalist NZ Map

Places Cook Strait, North Island
Depth intertidal