Comments on: West Indian Fuzzy Chiton from Puerto Rico

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:14:19 +0000

Chitons and cuisine:
The previous comment about eating them intrigued me a little; Wikipedia briefly mentions their consumption in Tobago and elsewhere. I recall reading about Maori eating them, but that might have been only abalone.

Some chiton species appear to be ‘meatier’ than others. There’s a vast discrepancy between the number of animal/plant species consumed around the world, and the number commercially consumed in developed nations such as the U.S. This dynamic raises a whole series of questions.

Dave
http://www.smallstockfoods.com

By: SpencerN

SpencerN — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:01:27 +0000

These things are cool. I guess you can eat them. They’re mostly protein. First challenge would be to pry them off whatever rock they’re attached to. Then you’d need to know how to cook them……anyone know a good chiton recipe? I’ve been looking everywhere!

Also, I think some Caribbean local make jewelery out of there. I think they turn blue if you sand them. Not sure though, might have dreamed that lol

By: Susan J. Hewitt

Susan J. Hewitt — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:43:23 +0000

I wanted to add:
1. That these chitons do move around, but only at night, grazing on microscopic algae which grows on the rock surface. Each one returns to its same spot on the rock at the end of the night.
2. That the maximum size of this species is about 3 inches in length.
3. There is a really excellent book on the chitons of P.R. called “Los Quitones de Puerto Rico” by Cedar I. Garcia Rios.

By: Susan J. Hewitt

Susan J. Hewitt — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:58:02 +0000

Hi Daniel, Ah, another mollusk! This is Acanthopleura granulata (Gmelin, 1791), the West Indian fuzzy chiton. The shell plates of this chiton are actually brownish and are usually very eroded. The pink/purple color on this one is due to a layer of encrusting calcareous red algae. For more info see the Wikipedia article (which I put together.) Best wishes to you, Susan J. Hewitt