Capable of growing up to 12 cm,[2] the animal is generally described as being football-shaped with a black leathery girdle in which are embedded eight protective plates.

[4] Like other chitons, it is a slow moving grazer that consumes several species of brown and red algae including kelps, sea lettuce, and encrusting diatoms.

Their predators include sea urchins, leather stars, black oystercatchers, glaucous-winged gulls, and humans.

Studies have been conducted, using K. tunicata, pertaining to the ratio of neutral and polar lipids found within the organism at different stages of its life.

These intertidal zones are susceptible to contamination from industrial activities, timber harvesting, mining, seafood processing, as well as coastal development.

Effects of climate change, present and future, are not fully understood but it will probably affect the diversity and structure of the intertidal communities K. tunicata reside in.