Hanleya hanleyi (Bean in Thorpe, 1844)

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 : 25

Hanleya hanleyi (Bean in Thorpe, 1844) Figs 1-2

Hanleya debilis Gray, 1857 =

Lepidopleurus carinatus Dall, 1927 =

Hanleya dalli Kaas, 1957 =

Records for the area.

Van Belle (1984), Kaas and Van Belle (1985a), Ávila and Albergaria (2002).

Distribution and biotope.

From the Barents Sea south to Algarve (Portugal), the Mediterranean Sea, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands ( Kaas 1991), near Iceland, Faroes Islands ( Sneli et al. 2005), Greenland and the east coast of North America ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985a). It lives from 15 to 555 meters depth ( Kaas and Van Belle 1985a). Usually found feeding on coralline algae.

Material examined.

Flores (Porto da Baleia: DBUA 551, 1 spm), Pico (Lajes do Pico, 0-3m: DBUA 662, 1 spm).

Fossil record.

No fossil representatives are known from the Azores.

Description (abridged).

Small (up to 22 × 13 mm), elongate oval, dorsal elevation ratio (intermediate valve height / valve width) up to ~0.3. Valves thick, not beaked and girdle narrow, with spicules. Intermediate valves rectangular. Tegmentum uniformly creamy white to light tan, occasionally with brown mineral deposits; uniformly sculpted with numerous large granules, arranged randomly on the lateral areas of the intermediate valves. Jugal (central) area distinct, with fine longitudinal riblets larger and more widely spaced than those in the pleural (outer) areas. Girdle perinotum covered in randomly distributed projecting spicules.

Remarks.

This species is very rare in the Azores.