New Records of Chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from Hawaii, including the Description of a New Species of Weedingia Kaas, 1988

Abstract

Extensive examination of sand samples and re-evaluation of collected material allow us to present for the first time the occurrence of four genera of Polyplacophora which were previously unknown from Hawaiian waters. Leptochiton sp. and Ischnochiton sp. are identified from isolated valves only. Lucilina cf. pacifica (Leloup, 1981) and Weedingia paulayi n. sp. are also represented by numerous isolated valves but their occurrence is confirmed by complete specimens. The latter, a species new to science, is described herein. It is morphologically distinguishable from its three congeners by a round tail valve with terminal mucro, a characteristic so far unknown for this genus. With the record of these four taxa, the shallow water chiton fauna of the Hawaiian Islands is increased from previously recorded five species belonging to four genera within four families to nine species belonging to eight genera within six families. While the genus Weedingia is a typical representative of the Polynesian fauna, the genus Ischnochiton is confirmed for the first time.