Leptochiton fairchildi (Iredale & Hull 1929)
- Dataset
- New Zealand and Australian species of the genus Leptochiton (Mollusca Polyplacophora)
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Mollusca
- class
- Polyplacophora
- order
- Lepidopleurida
- family
- Leptochitonidae
- genus
- Leptochiton
- species
- Leptochiton fairchildi
description
(Figure 9)
discussion
Remarks. Available specimen (BL ca. 4 mm) from Macquarie Island (30 m, R / V Dmitriy Mendeleev, 21.01.1976) was very damaged and it was only possible to study pieces of head and intermediate valves and the radula by SEM. It turned out that the tegmentum is smooth with very small, narrow grooves and with megalaesthete pores only, which are arranged in quincunx. The studied specimen has a radula with a length of about 1 mm and 24 transverse rows of mature teeth. The cusp of the major radular lateral tooth is tridentate, the denticles are almost of equal size. The specimen from the USNM sample with BL 6.0 mm has 7 gills arranged from valve six to anus. Besides the different radulae L. fairchildi differs from L. kerguelensis in the absence of granules in tegmentum but the presence of growth marks.
distribution
Distribution. Only known from Macquarie Island, on rocks, 30 – 69 m.
materials_examined
Type material. Holotype (AM C. 46625). Type locality. New Zealand, Macquarie Island. Material examined. New Zealand, Macquarie Island, R / V Eltanin, cruise 27, stn 1972, 54 ° 30 ’ S, 158 ° 58 ’ E, 31 m, 10 spms, BL 2.4 – 6.0 mm, 15.02.1967 (USNM?); Macquarie Island, R / V Dmitriy Mendeleev 30 m, 1 damaged spm (ZISP 2380), BL ca. 4 mm, 21.01.1976, leg. V. Averintsev.