Chiton

[Lonestar]

So a friend sent me a photo of an awesome chiton shell she found down in Santa Barbara. I had never heard of them much less seen one but they are pretty darn cool looking. What I read about them says that the PNW is within their habitat range and that leaves me wondering, any one found one up here and if so where?

[lundysd]

They indeed habitat these waters, though they're relatively small and not at every dive site. Here is a photo of a few from the Honey Bear at Cove 2:

[Lonestar]

Thanks Scott. I'm not a big fan of Cove 2 BUT maybe there is more motivation to dive there now! (great pix BTW!)

[Dusty2]

I don't know about the sites on the west side but there as common as house flies almost anywhere there are rocks or pilings for them to inhabit. Seldom do I take a shot at Point hudson that doesn't have one somewhere in the shot. The reason that you may not have seen them is that it is pretty uncommon to see one that is clean and pretty like the picture Scott posted. they are usually covered with moss and you only see the shape and not the pretty colors.

Come on up to PT this week and I'll show you hundreds of them.

[RoxnDox]

I don't know about the sites on the west side but there as common as house flies almost anywhere there are rocks or pilings for them to inhabit. Seldom do I take a shot at Point hudson that doesn't have one somewhere in the shot. The reason that you may not have seen them is that it is pretty uncommon to see one that is clean and pretty like the picture Scott posted. they are usually covered with moss and you only see the shape and not the pretty colors.

Come on up to PT this week and I'll show you hundreds of them.

Like this guy at Harpers Ferry:

Jim

[eliseaboo]

Oh yeah, they're all over! My favorite place to find them is Edmonds. One of my first photos in the area was of a chiton, actually...you just have to think small! Once you see one, they're all over the place -- kind of like barnacle-eating nudibranchs. Hmm, maybe I should do a chiton themed photo dive...

There are also gumboot chitons up north. I've seen them around Deception Pass, and found them on the beach over here in Port Townsend. They're huge (up to like a foot or something ridiculous like that) but they are masters of disguise. You will either need to luck out and find one in the open like I did (funny story actually, I was off pensacoladiver's boat and searching madly for the wall when we found it, so it was pure accident) or have someone point one out to you so you know what to look for...

[eliseaboo]

Oooo, here's a more typical picture of what you'll see...

[Dusty2]

I see gumboots pretty regularly at Point Hudson. I've even ha the good fortune of witnessing them spawning. So has Jan K over on Whidbey island. They are quite large but very neutrally colored so you need to look close unless they are grouping together to spawn then they are quite easy to see because they stand up and expose their yellow/orange bottom side.

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[WylerBear]

Gumboots are not as common in the south sound but Lined Chitons are really everywhere. Just start looking for them and you'll begin to see them. When I was a new diver I took LOTS of photos of them because they can be so pretty. Now, I don't pay much attention to them unless they are really unusual looking.

[oldsalt]

Yeah, yeah, a half dozen species of chiton can be found diving or tidepooling around here. But Scott's picture is just remarkable. I know I am repeating myself, my age gives me an excuse, but the real pleasure in diving (and life) comes from finding delight in the commonplace.
-Curt

[ORDiver]

Lot's of huge gumboots off the coast in Oregon. I've always thought they were cool.

[dwashbur]

It doesn't help around here, but there are lots of gumboots down around Monterey, as well. I've seen a few in the Sound, but the lined chitons and other smaller ones are lots more plentiful.

[diverden]

I see gumboots pretty regularly at Point Hudson. I've even ha the good fortune of witnessing them spawning. So has Jan K over on Whidbey island. They are quite large but very neutrally colored so you need to look close unless they are grouping together to spawn then they are quite easy to see because they stand up and expose their yellow/orange bottom side.

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TOTALLY NSFW!!!

[Greg Jensen]

The Pacific Northwest is the chiton capital of the world- I think there's a higher diversity here than anywhere else. Andy Lamb's book shows 30 species, and there are other rare or deep water ones not included.

[Beefcake]

Thanks for the thread; I've seen several gumboots in Oregon but didn't know what they were.

[airsix]

They indeed habitat these waters, though they're relatively small and not at every dive site. Here is a photo of a few from the Honey Bear at Cove 2:

You know, I think I've come back to this thread 5 times just to look at this picture.

I've seen a lot of chitons but none were colorful like this. Scott, they look so clean as well as their surroundings. Did you scrub them with a toothbrush? (kidding)

[Lonestar]

Here's the underside of the one my friend found down in SB. Told her that although the Tiger Cowries we used to find in the Red Sea trumped her purple cowrie, her chiton is majorly awesome!

[lundysd]

No toothbrush Ben This little guy was just really small (maybe 1/2") and on the edge of the Honey Bear. Don't know why he was so clean, but you're right -- the colors really do pop (even before any editing).

Scott

[airsix]

Well, I'm excited to have something new to look for. : )

[lundysd]

Ben,

I went back to the Honey Bear just for you on Friday and found my little population still there and thriving. They are located on the stern side directly outside of the GPO den. They're small

[cardiver]

Were you using a snoot on that first pic, Scott?

[lundysd]

Yup that was taken with a homebrew snoot I fashioned using a slightly different approach than most It's fiber optic based and works quite well, though I am still experimenting with ways to control aperture size and overall light quality.

Honestly I'm just not 100% sold on the use of snoots for macro photography. Interestingly, most non-divers and non-photographers seem to heavily favor non-snooted images, meaning their widespread appeal is limited. Guys like Keri Wilk certainly can make it work, but I just haven't taken any stellar shots with them yet. Hopefully with practice I'll get better.

[LCF]

From watching what Ken Kopp has been doing with his snoots, it has seemed to me that they work best on translucent subjects, where the snoot can make the object look as though it's glowing. Opaque subjects seem better lit with strobes, to me.

Those are amazing colors in the chiton, Scott!

One of the best classes I've taken in all my diving education was Laurel LeFever's Puget Sound Marine Life ID class. Laurel's mission in life is to convince divers that there is more to see in Puget Sound than GPOs and Wolf Eels, and he spends a lot of time on things like chitons, whelks, starfish and other things we all tend to relegate to background noise. Knowing more about them makes diving SO much more interesting!

[airsix]

Ben,

I went back to the Honey Bear just for you on Friday and found my little population still there and thriving.

Well stink. Guess where I was Friday? Down the road at the Junkyard looking at chitons! I found a few small relatively clean ones and was amazed at their colors. Thank you for cluing me into these. I've always observed them as colorless. I just wan't looking closely enough. Next time lets go look at them together though. (I did have a fantastic dive with Kees but it would have been nice to see you too.)

Thanks for the follow-up photos. They're great.

[BASSMAN]

No toothbrush Ben This little guy was just really small (maybe 1/2") and on the edge of the Honey Bear. Don't know why he was so clean, but you're right -- the colors really do pop (even before any editing).

Scott

The word "Tooth Brush" cought my eye here! What a perfect thing to bring on a dive for size comparison on some of our small or large critters!