Leptochiton juvenis ( Leloup, 1981 )

Sigwart, Julia D. & Sirenko, Boris I., 2012, Deep-sea chitons from sunken wood in the West Pacific (Mollusca: Polyplacophora: Lepidopleurida): taxonomy, distribution, and seven new species, Zootaxa 3195, pp. 1-38 : 11-12

Leptochiton juvenis ( Leloup, 1981)

Lepidopleurus juvenis Leloup 1981: 321 , text fig. 3; pl. 1, figs 4–7.

Leptochiton juvenis: Kaas 1982: 88 ; Kaas & Van Belle 1985: 124 –126, fig. 55, map 44; Sirenko 2001: 43 –45, figs 16–30, 164– 165; 2004: 114–115, table 1; Sigwart et al. 2011: table 3, fig. 2; Yearsley & Sigwart 2011: table 1.

Material examined. Holotype ( MNHN 5879). 23 specimens in 6 lots from Vanuatu, 9 specimens in 3 lots from the Solomon Islands.

Distribution. Philippines (96–194 m: Leloup 1981) and Vanuatu (417–850 m: Sirenko, 2001; this study) and now also the Solomon Islands (505-650 m). The present material confirms and expands the known distribution. Found living and feeding on sunken terrestrial plant remains.

Remarks. This species is known from the juvenile holotype and a series of 10 adult specimens collected from the same small area, Verde Passage, Luzon, Philippines ( Kaas 1982). Sirenko (2001) reported a single specimen from Vanuatu (16.54° S, 168.20° E, 459–488 m), which is very close to the additional localities reported here. The specimens reported here are the deepest records for the species. Several stations (Boa 1 sta. CP2465, CP2466, CP2435) extend the maximum depth to 770–900m; the previously reported maximum depth was 459–488 m ( Sirenko 2001).