Lepidochitona cf. canariensis (Thiele, 1909)

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

Lepidochitona cf. canariensis (Thiele, 1909) Figs 3-4

Trachydermon canariensis Thiele, 1909

Records for the area.

This is the first record for the Azores.

Distribution and biotope.

The Mediterranean Sea ( Dell’Angelo and Tringali 2000), Morocco ( Dell’Angelo and Smriglio 1999), Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985b), Savage Islands (Ilhas Selvagens) ( Albuquerque et al. 2009) to Mauritania ( Anseeuw and Verstraeten 2009), and now the Azores (this work). Intertidal down to 20 m depth.

Material examined.

Formigas Islets (intertidal zone: DBUA 337, 2 spm; DBUA 356, 1 spm), São Miguel (intertidal: DBUA 747, 1 spm).

Fossil record.

No fossil representatives are known from the Azores.

Description (abridged).

Small size (up to 8.5 × 5 mm), dorsal elevation ratio = 0.39 ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985b). Tegmentum sculptured with diamond-shaped granules. Girdle narrow, densely covered in small calcareous pustules and scattered spines.

Remarks.

This is a rare species, known only from a small number of specimens in the Azores.