Largest chiton

The word's largest species of chiton is the gumshoe or giant Pacific chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri), which measures up to 33 cm (1.08 ft)long and 13 cm (.43 in) across. Its red, leathery mantle wraps all around its body, so that it resembles a brick-red meatloaf. It lives off the Pacific coast of North America as well as off Japan. Chitons are also known as polyplacophorans ('bearing many plates'), because their shells are composed of several plates.