Leather Chiton (Katharina tunicata)

Other Names: Black Katy chiton, black chiton, sea pune

Description: Leather chitons look like a black leathery oval with eight diamond shaped plates running down their back. One of the larger chitons found at Haystack Rock, they can be up to 15 cm long. Like all chiton, the leather chiton attaches itself to rocks and moves so slowly that you can find the same animal in the same location low tide after low tide.

Habitat: Ranging from Alaska to Southern California, the leather chiton lives in low intertidal to sub-tidal zones. At Haystack Rock, leather chitons are often found on large boulders in front of The Needles.

Diet: The leather chiton eats brown and red algae.

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• Leather chitons got their name because they resemble American footballs.

• Leather chitons are a traditional food for many Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest.

• The black leathery skin on a leather chiton is known as its “girdle”. All chiton have this portion of flesh that wraps around its plates, but the leather chiton’s girdle is particularly noticeable because it covers most of its back.

Reference: Biodiversity of the Central Coast, Animal Diversity Web