Cryptoplax elioti is the chiton seen most often at Kwajalein and Enewetak Atolls, although it does not much resemble the other chitons on these pages. Its eight dorsal shell plates are much reduced and partly embedded in the elongate, stiff, worm-like body. They live under rocks, usually those with the bottoms partly or mostly buried in sand, along both lagoon and seaward reefs. They range in length up to at least 100mm.
The photo below shows a couple of the reduced shell plates near one end of the body. Even looking closely at an animal, it is difficult to see all 8 plates; some appear to be completely enveloped by skin.
The next two shots show two different specimens found by Ken Cone and Beth Van Zummeren at Majuro Atoll. The first one is about to crawl over a small white Titiscania limacina on the right.
Younger individuals show a bit more of their shell plates and are more spiculose around the margins.
Below appears to be a very young individual.
Created 3 August 2017
Updated 16 October 2021