What do chitons look like?
What do chitons look like?
Chitons are flattened, elongately-oval, with eight overlapping dorsal shell plates or valves, bordered by a thick girdle formed from the mantle that may be covered with spines, scales, or hairs.
How do chitons adapt to their environment?
Chitons are adapted to living on hard rock surfaces. They have a very muscular foot, and when disturbed, can clamp down so that they cannot be dislodged unless their shell is smashed. Chitons can live for one to twenty years, or more.
What is the chiton shell composed of?
Chitons have a shell composed of eight separate shell plates or valves….Chiton.
| Chiton Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Polyplacophora Blainville, 1816 |
| Subgroups |
How many eyes do chitons have?
1,000 eyes
And chitons have up to 1,000 eyes and can grow more throughout their lifetimes, replacing any that are damaged.
Is there an animal with 100 eyes?
If you spot a West Indian fuzzy chiton, it has most likely spotted you too. Chitons may lack a brain, head and eyes in the classic sense, but nestled in the shell of this primitive marine mollusc are hundreds of tiny ‘eyes’, complete with lenses that focus light to create images.
How do you identify a chiton?
How to identify. A small oval shell found attached to rocks on the shore. There are around a dozen species of chiton on UK shores, most are greyish or brown with mottled markings that make them rather hard to spot. They all have 8 interlocking plates surrounded by a muscular girdle.
How do chitons protect themselves from predators?
The distinctive feature of all chitons is their eight overlapping plates, which protect them from predators and strong crashing waves. When disturbed they use their muscular, mucus-secreting foot to clamp down hard on rocks, making them difficult to dislodge.
How many eyes does a chiton have?
And chitons have up to 1,000 eyes and can grow more throughout their lifetimes, replacing any that are damaged.
