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
Citations:Johnson and Snook, 1927.Leise, Esther M. 1986,Russo, Ron, and Pam Olhausen. 1981.