Lepidochitona saitoi Dell'Angelo, Sosso & Taviani, 2025, sp. nov.

Lepidochitona saitoi sp. nov. Fig. 106 Type material. Holotype: MSNG 62664, intermediate valve, width 4.5 mm (Figs 106A–F). Type locality. Pezzo, near Villa S. Giovanni (Calabria, Italy). Type stage. Upper Pleistocene, possibly originated from contiguous Lower Pleistocene bathyal deposits. Etymology. The name honours Hiroshi Saito (National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan), for his prominent contribution to the study of Recent and fossil chitons. Material examined. Pezzo: type material. Diagnosis. Intermediate valve solid, triangular, strongly beaked, elevated, semicarinate in anterior profile, posterior margin straight on both sides of the prominent apex, lateral areas strongly raised. Tegmentum coarsely granulated, fully covered by roundish/oval granules.Articulamentum with apophyses broadly triangular, slit formula one slit for each side. Description. Head and tail valves unknown. Intermediate valve solid, triangular (W/L = 1.44), strongly beaked, elevated (H/W = 0.51), semicarinate in anterior profile, anterior margin convex, posterior margin straight on both sides of the prominent apex, forming an angle of 120°, lateral areas strongly raised, delimited from central area by a deep depression. Tegmentum coarsely granulated, fully covered by granules roundish/oval, irregularly arranged, LA with strong, concentric folds. Articulamentum with apophyses broadly triangular, separate by a large jugal sinus, slit formula one slit for each side, slit rays visible, eaves spongy. Remarks. The species is known only from the single intermediate valve from Pezzo (Italy) here described, with a characteristic shape. Comparisons. This species shows a valve’s shape closest to that of Lepidochitona modesta (Rolle, 1862), a species from the Oligocene of Gaas (France), also known for a single intermediate valve (see below), but with a different sculpture (smooth). Distribution. Upper Pleistocene: central Mediterranean, S. Italy: Pezzo (this study).