Can you eat chitons?
Its flesh is edible and has been used as food by Native Americans, as well as by Russian settlers in Southeast Alaska. However, it generally is not considered palatable, having a texture described as extremely tough and rubbery.
How do you identify a chiton?
Internal anatomy. The girdle is often ornamented with spicules, bristles, hairy tufts, spikes, or snake-like scales. The majority of the body is a snail-like foot, but no head or other soft parts beyond the girdle are visible from the dorsal side.
What are chitons known for?
Chitons are ancient creatures, first appearing about 500 million years ago. They are the only known group of molluscs living today to have living tissue integrated within the outermost layer of their shells. Researchers now know that there are only eight genera (and about 80 species) that have shell eyes.
Do chitons bite?
They have 8 plates or valves overlapping on their elongated and slender shells. Do chitons bite? No, Chitons do not bite.
What is the difference between a tunic and a chiton?
A chiton (Greek: χιτών, khitōn) is a form of tunic that fastens at the shoulder, worn by men and women of ancient Greece and Rome. There are two forms of chiton. One is the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton.
Do chitons have a shell?
Polyplacophoran molluscs, or chitons (Fig. 5), have a dorsal shell that is secreted as eight valves or plates. The plates of individual animals differ in size and shape based on their sequential position; this plate dimorphism is also present in the earliest chitons of the late Cambrian.
Where do most chitons live?
rocky intertidal zoneAll chitons are marine and the group has a worldwide distribution. Most live in the rocky intertidal zone or shallow sublittoral (just below the low tide level), but some live in deep water to more than 7000 m.
How big do chitons get?
2 inchesAbout 5 cm (2 inches) is the maximum length of most chitons, but Cryptochiton stelleri, of the Pacific coast of North America, may grow to about 43 cm. Chitons are very flexible and can fit snugly into rock crevices or curl into a ball when detached.
Why do chitons have eight shells?
That is why it is also called perinotum or girdle. The back itself is protected by eight overlapping calcareous shell plates, which give the chiton its gauntlet-like appearance....Chitons (Placophora)ClassSpecies No.Molluscs (Mollusca)55.4009 more rows
Do chitons have brains?
Contrary to almost all previous descriptions, the size and structure of the chiton anterior nerve ring unambiguously qualify it as a true brain with cordal substructure.
Can you pick up a chiton?
You may have to slide and nudge the chiton so that it sits squarely on the plexiglass strip. Quickly pick up the plexiglass and chiton between your thumb and index finger and hold it in a gentle vice-like grip.
How long do chitons live for?
The gumboot is nocturnal — it usually feeds at night. The gumboot chiton is the largest chiton in the world. It can live 20 years or more. When exposed to air during low tide, the gumboot can breathe oxygen from the atmosphere as long as its gills stay moist.
What is the difference between a chiton and peplos?
They could also be criss-crossed between the breasts. The difference between a chiton and a peplos was that before pinning, the cloth was folded over at the top, creating an extra “over-drape.” If the rectangle were too long at the feet to move freely, the cloth could be bloused up over the belts to raise the hem.
What makes a chiton different from other molluscs?
Also, unlike limpets and other snails, the chitons have no tentacles or eyes in the head region, just a mouth and a radula. The shell is so different from those of other mollusks that one might think chitons are segmented (or metameric), but contrary to the general rule, this is incorrect.
Do chitons have symmetry?
Class Polyplacophora (chitons) Chitons have elongate, bilaterally symmetrical, dorsoventrally flattened bodies with an oval outline. The shell covers most of the dorsal surface and consists of eight overlapping calcareous plates.
Why do chitons have 8 plates?
Some species have larger, direct-developing eggs that are brooded in the female's mantle cavity, from which a juvenile chiton is formed. The shell gland develops with seven regions on the dorsum of the juvenile; the seventh band divides later to form an eighth. Thus, eight shell plates are formed.
What is a chiton?
Chiton, Greek Chitōn, garment worn by Greek men and women from the Archaic period ( c. 750– c. 500 bc) through the Hellenistic period (323–30 bc ). Essentially a sleeveless shirt, the chiton was a rectangular piece of linen (Ionic chiton) or wool (Doric chiton) draped by the wearer in various ways and kept in place at the shoulders by brooches ...
Where is the Chiton statue?
At all times the chiton was worn at ankle length by women. Charioteer wearing long chiton. Bronze statue from the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, c. 470 bce. In the Archaeological Museum, Delphi, Greece.
What was the costume called that was long sleeved, high girdled, and elaborately?
An ankle-length version was worn by…. stagecraft: Classical theatrical costume. …clad in stage tunics, called chitons, which were long-sleeved, high-girdled, and elaborately embellished, as were their long and short cloaks (himations and chlamyses).
What is an encyclopedia editor?
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
Where did the Caryatid originate?
Caryatid, in classical architecture, draped female figure used instead of a column as a support. In marble architecture they first appeared in pairs in three small buildings (treasuries) at Delphi (550–530 bc ), and their origin can be traced back to mirror handles of nude figures carved from ivory in Phoenicia….
Overview
A chiton (Greek: χιτών, khitōn) is a form of tunic that fastens at the shoulder, worn by men and women of ancient Greece and Rome. There are two forms of chiton. One is the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton. According to Herodotus, popular legend was that Athenian women began to wear the chiton as opposed to the peplos after several women stabbed a messenger to death with the bron…
Etymology
The word chiton is derived from a Central Semitic language *kittan (e.g. Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת kuttṓnĕṯ), ultimately from a word for flax.
Different forms and wearing styles
A shorter version of the chiton was called the chitoniskos.
The Doric chiton is a single rectangle of woolen or linen fabric. It can be worn plain or with an overfold called an apoptygma, which is more common to women. It can be draped and fastened at the shoulder by pins (Greek: peronai; Latin: fibulae) or sewing, or by buttons.
See also
• Clothing in the ancient world
• Exomis
• Stephane (Ancient Greece)
• Toga
Sources
• Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1994), Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity, London: Pimlico, ISBN 978-0-712-66054-9
• Pomeroy, Sarah (2002), Spartan Women, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-195-13067-7
• "Chiton" Encyclopædia Britannica
External links
• Greek Dress
• Greek clothes (French, Pdf)