« Characteristics shared by individuals of this family are the presence of many slits in the insertion plates of the end valves and only 1 or 2 slits in the intermediate valves, a tail valve that is multifissured, and the non-occurrence of pectinations in the insertion plates. » – Tunnell & al.: Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells, TAMU Press, College Station 2010, p.101.
 

« Valves thin; posterior valve entire; the plates of insertion very thin, smooth-edged, of the central valves each with a single notch; margin covered with very small imbricate scales. » – J. E. Gray: “Additional observations on Chitones”, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London vol.XV, London 1847, p.126.