146 



CHITONELLUS. 



Sowerby s Genera, No. 12, pi. %fig- 4, 5. 



This is also a Mollusca, on the middle of whose back 

 are fixed in a straight line certain testaceous pieces or 

 parts, resembling detached valves of the Chiton, but 

 they are never quite joined or locked together while 

 the animal is living, and do not prevent its body from 

 moving in every direction: these valves, upon the con- 

 traction of the animal when dead, become nearly united. 

 It may be supposed that this Mollusca, from its pecu- 

 liar organization, climbs the stems of marine plants in 

 search of subsistence, like the caterpillar, which in 

 appearance it much resembles. Sowerby has united 

 this genus to that of Chiton, not seeing sufficient 

 grounds to separate them. 



Chitonellus laevis Chitonellus striatus. 



CHITON. 

 chiton squamosus. — Linnams. 

 Sowerby s Genera, No. 12, pi. %jig. 1, 2, 3. 

 Lamarck has made no alteration in this genus of Lin- 

 naeus; and the characters being so well defined, and 

 possessing no variations, it cannot be confounded with, or 



