Lepidochitona piceola (Shuttleworth, 1853)

Avila, Sergio P. & Sigwart, Julia, 2013, New records for the shallow-water chiton fauna (Mollusca, Polyplacophora) of the Azores (NE Atlantic), ZooKeys 312, pp. 23-38 : 27-28

Lepidochitona piceola (Shuttleworth, 1853) Fig. 5

Chiton (Acanthopleura) piceolus Shuttleworth, 1853

Nuttalina piceolus Pilsbry, 1894

Nuttalina piceola Nierstrasz, 1906

Middendorfia piceola Bergenhayn, 1931

Records for the area.

Kaas and Van Belle (1981, 1985b), Van Belle (1984), Kaas (1991).

Distribution and biotope.

Azores and Canary Islands ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985b). Intertidal.

Material examined.

São Miguel (intertidal zone down to 14 m depth: DBUA 625, 1 spm; DBUA 743, 1 spm; DBUA 744, 23 spm; DBUA 745, 14 spm; DBUA 1056, 1 spm).

Fossil record.

No fossil representatives are known from the Azores.

Description (abridged).

Small size (up to 10 × 6 mm), dorsal elevation ratio = 0.31 ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985b). Tegmentum with round quincuncially arranged granules, but valves generally strongly eroded, and sculpture usually preserved only along the anterior margins of the valves. Valves rather thick, with a strong apical callus. Girdle wide, approx. 40% of the total width.

Remarks.

This species has been overlooked and confused with Lepidochitona simrothi . However, it is easy to separate these two species, as Lepidochitona piceola does not have the long, smooth, curved needles characteristic of the girdle of Lepidochitona simrothi . The only records before this work were those of Kaas and Van Belle (1985b) who reported the species from the intertidal of São Miguel Island, and Kaas (1991) who reported the species from the Formigas Islets (0-15 m depth).