Mossy Chiton

Common Name: Mossy Chiton

Scientific Name: Mopalia muscosa

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family: Animalia, Mollusca, Polyplacophora, Neoloricata, Mopaliidae

Diet: Algae

Habitat: Tide pools, brackish water, sand, rocky, estuaries, low to mid tide zones

Range: Alaska to Baja California, Mexico

Identification: Mossy-like girdle surrounding the 8 plates, dull brown, green, greyish or blackish

Reproduction: Broadcast spawning (discharge fertile sperm and eggs into water)

Fact: The hair-like structures on the girdle are some sort of sensory receptor retained from juvenile stages

Predators: Fish, gulls, crabs, sea stars