Plaxiphora Biramosa
''Plaxiphora biramosa'' is an uncommon chiton in the family Mopaliidae, endemic to New Zealand. Description and habitat A medium-sized chiton, oval and very flat, with head and tail valves much reduced in size. Wavy grooves run lengthwise along the central areas of the valves, which can be cream through yellow to light olive-green. These are often coated in pink coralline algae and other small growths, much like the rocks the animal lives around, giving it a cryptic disguise. The girdle is wide, usually a reddish brown, and distinguished by many fine bristles along the margin and larger tufts of bristles at the sutures. Usual length is from 45-62mm, making it one of the larger chitons found in New Zealand. Although an extremely slow moving species, ''P. biramosa'' exhibits homing behaviour after moving around at night. Habits crevices in smooth rocks on wave-exposed coasts around New Zealand, although not known from the warmer north-eastern areas of the North Island The Nort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diaphoroplax Biramosus
''Diaphoroplax biramosus'' is a rare species of chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail s ... in the family Mopaliidae. Distribution New Zealand References * Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 Mopaliidae Chitons described in 1835 {{Chiton-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chiton
Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail shells or suck-rocks, or more formally as loricates, polyplacophorans, and occasionally as polyplacophores. Chitons have a shell composed of eight separate shell plates or valves. These plates overlap slightly at the front and back edges, and yet articulate well with one another. Because of this, the shell provides protection at the same time as permitting the chiton to flex upward when needed for locomotion over uneven surfaces, and even allows the animal to curl up into a ball when dislodged from rocks. The shell plates are encircled by a skirt known as a girdle. Habitat Chitons live worldwide, from cold waters through to the tropics. They live on hard surfaces, such as on or under rocks, or in rock crevices. Some species live quite h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mopaliidae
Mopaliidae is a family of marine molluscs in the class Polyplacophora. Genera There are 10 recognized genera: * '' Amicula'' Gray, 1847 * '' Dendrochiton'' Berry, 1911 * '' Gallardochiton'' Sirenko, 2007 * '' Katharina'' Gray, 1847 * '' Mopalia'' Gray, 1847 * '' Mopaliella'' Thiele, 1909 * ''Nuttallochiton'' Plate, 1899 * ''Placiphorella'' Dall, 1879 * '' Placiphorina'' Kaas & Van Belle, 1994 * ''Plaxiphora ''Plaxiphora'' is a genus of chitons in the family Mopaliidae. Species * ''Plaxiphora albida'' ( Blainville, 1825) * '' Plaxiphora atlantica'' * ''Plaxiphora aurata'' (Spalowsky 1795) * '' Plaxiphora aurea'' * ''Plaxiphora australis'' Suter, ...'' Gray, 1847 (synonym '' Maorichiton'' Iredale, 1914) References Mollusc families Chitons Taxa named by William Healey Dall {{chiton-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the List of island countries, sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's Capital of New Zealand, capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Valve (mollusc)
A valve is each articulating part of the shell of a mollusc or another multi-shelled animal such as brachiopods and some crustaceans. Each part is known as a valve or in the case of chitons, a "plate". Members of two classes of molluscs, the Bivalvia (clams) and the Polyplacophora (chitons), have valves. Species within one family of very unusual small sea snails, marine opisthobranch gastropods in the family Juliidae, also have two articulating shells or valves, which resemble those of a bivalve. This exceptional family is commonly known as the bivalved gastropods. Gastropods in general are sometimes called "univalves", because in those that have a shell, the shell is usually in one part. Chitons The valves of chitons are eight dorsal, articulated shell plates, which are frequently coloured and sculpted. After death the girdle that holds the plates together disintegrates and the plates separate. Thus individual plates can be found washed up in beach drift, as shown i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Suture (anatomy)
In anatomy, a suture is a fairly rigid joint between two or more hard elements of an organism, with or without significant overlap of the elements. Sutures are found in the skeletons or exoskeletons of a wide range of animals, in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Sutures are found in animals with hard parts from the Cambrian period to the present day. Sutures were and are formed by several different methods, and they exist between hard parts that are made from several different materials. Vertebrate skeletons The skeletons of vertebrate animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) are made of bone, in which the main rigid ingredient is calcium phosphate. Cranial sutures The skulls of most vertebrates consist of sets of bony plates held together by cranial sutures. These sutures are held together mainly by Sharpey's fibers which grow from each bone into the adjoining one. Sutures in the ankles of land vertebrates In the type of crurotarsal ankle which is fou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of accounting for approximately % of the total residents of New Zealand. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and New Zealand's capital city Wellington, which is located at the south-west tip of the island. Naming and usage Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board offi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chitons Of New Zealand
Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail shells or suck-rocks, or more formally as loricates, polyplacophorans, and occasionally as polyplacophores. Chitons have a shell composed of eight separate shell plates or valves. These plates overlap slightly at the front and back edges, and yet articulate well with one another. Because of this, the shell provides protection at the same time as permitting the chiton to flex upward when needed for locomotion over uneven surfaces, and even allows the animal to curl up into a ball when dislodged from rocks. The shell plates are encircled by a skirt known as a girdle. Habitat Chitons live worldwide, from cold waters through to the tropics. They live on hard surfaces, such as on or under rocks, or in rock crevices. Some species live quite high ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |