Cryptoconchus porosus

Cryptoconchus porosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Polyplacophora
Order:	Chitonida
Suborder:	Acanthochitonina
Superfamily:	Cryptoplacoidea
Family:	Acanthochitonidae
Subfamily:	Acanthochitoninae
Genus:	Cryptoconchus
Species:	C. porosus
Binomial name
Cryptoconchus porosus (Burrow, 1815)
Synonyms
Chiton porosus Burrow, 1815 Cryptoplax depressus Blainville, 1818 Chiton leachi Blainville, 1825 Chiton monticularis Quoy and Gaimard, 1835 Cryptoconchus stewartianus Rochebrune, 1882 Acanthochites porosus Suter, 1913

Cryptoconchus porosus, or the butterfly chiton, is a species of chiton mollusc of the family Acanthochitonidae, endemic to New Zealand.

It is a large, long, thick, and fleshy chiton, with a sky-blue or occasionally pinkish or orange tinged valves, hidden under the girdle, which varies from dull orange to dark greenish.

Length is 73 mm, and width 33 mm, but these measurements are from a dried specimen and the animal is much larger in life.

References

• Powell A W B, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1