(Linné, 1767)

Description (shell):
Elongate oval, twice as long as broad. Shell valves strongly arched, with a rounded keel and prominent beaks. Sculpture of longitudinal ridges on the keel, laterally with fine, densely packed, oval or rounded granules. Girdles with 18 dense tufts of bristles (up to 1.5 mm long), one on each side at posterior valve boundaries and four in an arc anterior to head valve; surface covered with densely packed, recumbent spines (feeling velvety to touch) and fringed with dense series of longer spines (up to 1 mm).
(A. fascicularis-detail).

Size:
Up to 60 mm long.

Colour:
Variable, marbled with off-white, grey, yellowish or brown.

Habitat:
Lower shore and sublittoral.

Distribution:
Only in the southern North Sea (Distr. A. fascicularis); recorded distribution from north Kent, south and west to Channel Isles, northwards to Anglesey and on west coast of Ireland.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Polyplacophora
Order Lepidopleurida
Family Acanthochitonidae
Genus Acanthochitona
Species Acanthochitona fascicularis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Acanthochitona fascicularis (Linnaeus, 1767)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Chiton fascicularis Linné, 1767
Acanthochites communis Risso, 1826
Chiton fascicularis var. major Philippi, 1836
Acanthochitona gracilis Jeffreys, 1859
Acanthochites carinatus Adams H. & Angas, 1864 non Acanthochites carinatus Risso, 1826
Chiton fascicularis var. rubra Issel, 1870
Acanthochites discrepans var. minorflava Monterosato, 1878
Acanthochites hamatus Rochebrune, 1882
Anisochiton discrepans var. nigrolineata Dautzenberg, 1893
Anisochiton discrepans var. marmorata Dautzenberg, 1893
Anisochiton discrepans var. elongata Dautzenberg, 1893
Acanthochites discrepans var. albina Dautzenberg & Durouchoux, 1900
Anisochiton discrepans var. viridis Pallary, 1902
Acanthochites discrepans var. violaceolimbata Dautzenberg & Durouchoux, 1906
Acanthochiton heterochaetus Bergenhayn, 1931
Acanthochiton discrepans var. angustivalva Bergenhayn, 1931
Acanthochiton communis var. barashi Leloup, 1969
Acanthochitona bonairensis Kaas, 1972
Chiton crinitus sensu Sowerby G.B. II, 1840 non Pennant, 1777
Chiton discrepans sensu Sowerby G.B. II, 1840 non Brown, 1827
Acanthochitona communis

Hayward, P.J., Wigham, G.D. & N. Yonow, 1990. Mollusca I: Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Gastropoda. In: The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. (ed. P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland). Clarendon Press, Oxford: 628-730.

Jones, A.M. & J.M. Baxter, 1987. Molluscs: Caudofoveata, Solenogastres, Polyplacophora and Scaphopoda. Synopses of the British fauna (NS), 37: 1-123.

Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto, 1991. European Seashells. Vol. I. 352 pp. Wiesbaden/Verlag Christa Hemmen.

Seaward, D.R., 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north west Europe. Nature Conservancy Council.

Sowerby, G.B., 1859: Illustrated Index of British Shells. London.

You can continue searching for Acanthochitona fascicularis on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia