The Genus Lepidochitona Gray, 1821 (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, The Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea

Nine species of Lepidochitona from the NE Atlantic and adjacent seas are described, two of which are new to science: L. monterosatoi from the Mediterranean Sea, and L. iberica from Ria de Arosa, NW Spain. The taxa Middendorffia Dall, 1882, and Mopaliella Thiele, 1909, are rejected and synonymized with Lepidochitona Gray, 1821. Ischnochiton stroemfelti Bergenhayn, 1931, is recognized as an intermediate form between Ischnochiton Gray, 1847, and Lepidochitona Gray, 1821, classed with the latter genus by the authors on account of several arguments