Learn about: Chitons!
- Joshua Venturo
- Jan 19, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: May 1, 2024
Photo by Jenny Venturo
The chiton, or sea cradle, has a shell made up of 8 shell-plates, called valves. It has a soft covering for this shell, a girdle, which is usually only covering the edge of the shell. It also holds the valves together.
The chiton lives around the world, and has a strange habit called homing. It will choose a “home,” which it always comes back to after long searches in the rocks for food. People still do not know how they find the same spot again. The chiton eats algae and barnacles, which it scrapes off the rock with its radula. It can also hold up the front of its girdle and then clamp down on fish or shrimp that take shelter under it. Its predators include seagulls, sea stars, crabs, lobsters, and fish.
Information from Wikipedia
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