Xylochitonidae fam.n., a new family of deep-water chitons, with descriptions of a new genus and species from New Zealand (Polyplacophora: Lepidopleurina)

Abstract

A new family of deep-water chitons, Xylochitonidae fam.n ., is erected to contain a distinctive new species Xylochiton xylophagus gen. et sp.n. from New Zealand waters. The new family is placed in the suborder Lepidopleurina, as it has unslit insertion plates. It can be distinguished from all other families in the suborder by the lack of calcareous ornamentation on the ventral girdle, the presence of unslit insertion plates on at least the anterior valve, and by the evenly distributed aesthete groups with their erect subsidiary caps. Similarities between Xylochitonidae fam.n. and Abyssochitonidae are discussed.