Notoplax mariae
Description 4
Medium sized chiton 27 to 35mm long, 12 to 18mm wide (dehydrated). The grey-green girdle is wide, thin and leathery, and there are tufts of short bristles at the corner of each plate where they meet the girdle. Plates are usually a greeny-grey, but sometimes coloured yellow to red. Front plates are covered by small flattened oval beads and have 5 radial ridges made of larger beads and a beaded edge around the front. The rear plate appears longer than wide but the wider edges are hidden under the girdle. The rest of the plates are pentagonal in shape, crowded with flattened oval beads except for a central "V". Suter describes "another characteristic feature is the presence of 3 almond shaped white granules just within the posterior edge of each median valve" - these can be seen on the rear edge of each plate in the Te Papa image.
Distribution 4
Found between low intertidal to 35m deep. Preference for the underside of boulders and stones sitting on mud. North Island, South Island, Stewart Island.
Synonyms 4
Acanthochites (Loboplax) mariae (Webster, 1907) (original combination)
Notoplax (Amblyplax) brookesi (Ashby, 1929) (original combination)
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=386585
References 4
New Zealand Mollusca, Marine Land and Freshwater Shells, A W B Powell, 1979
Sources and Credits
- (c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Wills
- Tony Wills, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), uploaded by Tony Wills
- (c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Tony Wills
- (c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
More Info
iNaturalist NZ Map
| Places | North Island, South Island, Stewart Island |
|---|---|
| Depth | intertidal, offshore |
