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Acanthopleura echinata

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Acanthopleura echinata
Acanthopleura echinata, Playa Mansa.jpg
Acanthopleura echinata at Playa Mansa, Chile
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Polyplacophora
Order: Chitonida
Family: Chitonidae
Genus: Acanthopleura
Species:
A. echinata
Binomial name
Acanthopleura echinata
(Barnes, 1824)

Acanthopleura echinata is a Southeast Pacific species of edible chiton, a marine polyplacophoran mollusc in the family Chitonidae, the typical chitons.[1]

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Description

Acanthopleura echinata is a very large chiton, with specimen confirmed at length of up to 23 cm (9.1 in). In Chile, the largest individuals are in the north and the smallest in the south.[2] The species is very dark reddish-brown. The plated shell, which often is covered in epibionts like algae, Scurria limpets and Mytilus mussels, has many spines. These spines are generally up to 0.8 mm (0.03 in) long in large individuals, but can be even longer if not broken, which however is unusual. The similar-sized Enoplochiton niger of the same region lacks the spines.[3]

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Distribution, habitat and behavior

The distribution of Chiton magnificus ranges along the Pacific coast of South America from Concepción Province (Punta Tumbes) in Chile to Talara in Peru.[3] Although there are old claimed records of this species from the Galápagos Islands, these are considered incorrect.[2]

It lives at depths of 0–4 m (0–13 ft) in the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones,[3] with the vast majority of individuals found in the lower intertidal zone.[2] It inhabits rocky coasts in areas that often have heavy surf. Its habitat often has giant kelp Lessonia nigrescens.[3] It is generally quite common, with average densities in appropriate habitat typically being from about 1.5 individuals per square meter to 2.5 per square meter.[2]

The species is omnivorous, feeding on a wide range of algae and invertebrates. It has radular teeth that are quite large, allowing it to eat heavily incrusted things like coralline algae.[2]

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Concepción Province, Chile

Concepción Province, Chile

Concepción Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Bío Bío (VIII). Its capital, Concepción, is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation, the nation's second largest metropolitan area after Santiago.

Talara

Talara

Talara is a city in the Talara Province of the Piura Region, in northwestern Peru. It is a port city on the Pacific Ocean with a population of 91,444 as of 2017. Its climate is hot and dry. Due to its oil reserves, and ability to produce aviation fuel, Talara hosted a United States air base during World War II. It was also one of two refueling stations for the Pacific Fleet. There were naval guns on the hills, and submarine nets in the harbor. The Ajax, Achilles and Exeter, three British destroyers, were refuelled there on their way around the Horn to catch the Graf Spee in Rio de la Plata. Talara is also home to a large fishing fleet. The city is served by the Cap. FAP Víctor Montes Arias Airport.

Galápagos Islands

Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador. Located 900 kilometres west of continental Ecuador, the islands are known for their large number of endemic species that were studied by Charles Darwin during the second voyage of HMS Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Lessonia nigrescens

Lessonia nigrescens

Lessonia nigrescens, the grey weed or giant grey weed, is a South American kelp species in the genus Lessonia.

Radula

Radula

The radula is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus. The radula is unique to the mollusks, and is found in every class of mollusk except the bivalves, which instead use cilia, waving filaments that bring minute organisms to the mouth.

Coralline algae

Coralline algae

Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of red, but some species can be purple, yellow, blue, white, or gray-green. Coralline algae play an important role in the ecology of coral reefs. Sea urchins, parrot fish, and limpets and chitons feed on coralline algae. In the temperate Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae are the main builders of a typical algal reef, the Coralligène ("coralligenous"). Many are typically encrusting and rock-like, found in marine waters all over the world. Only one species lives in freshwater. Unattached specimens may form relatively smooth compact balls to warty or fruticose thalli.

Human use

Acanthopleura echinata is edible and is one of the few commercially important chitons in its range, others being the somewhat smaller, up to 17.4 cm (6.9 in), dark bluish-gray Chiton magnificus and the much smaller, up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in), brownish Chiton granosus. Neither of these have large spines.[3]

Source: "Acanthopleura echinata", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2021, June 6th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthopleura_echinata.

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References
  1. ^ WoRMS
  2. ^ a b c d e Camus, P.A.; A.H. Navarrete; A.G. Sanhueza; L.F. Opaza (2012). "Trophic ecology of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata on Chilean rocky shores". Revista chilena de historia natural. 85 (1): 123–135. doi:10.4067/S0716-078X2012000100010.
  3. ^ a b c d e Araya, J.F.; M.E. Araya (2015). "The shallow-water chitons (Mollusca, Polyplacophora) of Caldera, Region of Atacama, northern Chile". Zoosyst. Evol. 91 (1): 45–58. doi:10.3897/zse.91.8536.

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