---
title: "Mossy Chiton"
description: "Mopalia muscosa — Andere dieren. Mopalia muscosa, the mossy chiton, is a species of chiton, a polyplacophoran, an eight-plated marine mollusk."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/mossy-chiton
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Mossy Chiton

> Mopalia muscosa — Andere dieren. Mopalia muscosa, the mossy chiton, is a species of chiton, a polyplacophoran, an eight-plated marine mollusk.

- Scientific name: *Mopalia muscosa*
- Category: `other` (Andere dieren)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 17106
- Wikidata: [Q3074163](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3074163)
- iNaturalist taxon: [117633](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/117633)

## Names

- en: Mossy Chiton

## Countries with the most observations

US (8984), CA (3955), MX (9)

## Summary

Mopalia muscosa, the mossy chiton, is a species of chiton, a polyplacophoran, an eight-plated marine mollusk. It is a northeastern Pacific species which occurs from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California Mexico.
This species is found in the middle and lower intertidal zone on exposed rocky shores. Mopalia muscosa can be 40 to 55 mm (1.6 to 2.2 in) in length. Mossy chitons are often covered by algae, barnacles, and limpets. The chiton's girdle is covered with coarse hair-like bristles or "setae".The visible exterior of the chiton's eight shell plates are typically a drab brown or grey-green, however on the underside…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mopalia_muscosa

## Photo

![Mossy Chiton](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/mossy-chiton/medium.jpg)

Photo: Irene · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103232848

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/mossy-chiton?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).