Basic information on the cHITON- Chiton magnificus
Chitons have a dorsal shell which is composed of eight separate shell plates or valves. These plates overlap somewhat at the front and back edges, and yet articulate well with one another. Because of this, although the plates provide good protection for impacts from above, they nonetheless permit the chiton to flex upward when needed for locomotion over uneven surfaces, and also allow the animal to slowly curl up into a ball when it is dislodged from the underlying surface. The shell plates are surrounded by a structure known as a girdle.
The Nervous system of the Chiton- Chiton magnificus
Chitons have a simple nervous system with two pairs of lateral nerve cords and aesthetes or their special minute sensory organs that pass through the shell valves. Some of these are specialized as light receptors, having a minute lens and retina-like structure. The mouth is surrounded by a simple velum and the head lacks tentacles or eyes. They feed on encrusting organisms such as sponges and bryozoans, and non-selectively on diatoms and algae that are scraped from the substrate with their radula, which is hardened by the incorporation of metallic ions. One group captures small crustaceans by trapping them under the anterior part of their body.