Story by John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])
Hi June,
Do you remember my posting about”Gumby,” the largest Gumboot Chiton, I had ever seen washed ashore. Though dead, it was in amazingly good shape, with its tentacles intact, unlike most I see. Well, it wasn’t quite a case of a “Butterfly emerging from its pupae, more a butterfloid emerging from its poopa, when I recently dug it up from the bucket of dirt I had buried it in. As you can see from the pictures, Nature’s recyclers hadn’t quite done their job completely.
I don’t usually bring potential food for shore critters home, but was curious about the size of the plates in this giant. I now can compare its plates to the “bleached bones” of its compatriots I have previously collected. My initial opinion is that there are much bigger Gumboots out there, as a few of the plates I have are bigger then Gumby’s. Enjoy. John
