Marine mollusc Chiton at beach in São Sebastião city, north shore of São Paulo state, Brazil.
Chitons are small to large marine molluscs in the class Polyplacophora, which formerly was known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. These molluscs are also sometimes commonly known as sea cradles or "coat-of-mail shells", or more formally as loricates, polyplacophorans, and occasionally as polyplacophores. Chitons have a dorsal shell which is composed of eight separate shell plates or valves. These plates overlap somewhat at the front and back edges, and yet articulate well with one another. Because of this, although the plates provide good protection for impacts from above, they nonetheless permit the chiton to flex upward when needed for locomotion over uneven surfaces, and also the animal can slowly curl up into a ball when it is dislodged from the underlying surface. The shell plates are surrounded by a structure known as a girdle.
Size: 3263px × 4928px
Location: Praia grande, Sao Sebastiao, São Paulo, Brazil
Photo credit: © Leo Francini / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: amphineura, beach, brazil, chiton, coat--mail, cradle, cradles, intertidal, loricate, loricates, marine, mollusc, paulo, polyplacophora, polyplacophoran, polyplacophorans, polyplacophore, polyplacophores, pool, rock, rocky, sand, sao, sea, sebastiao, shell, shells, shore, tide
