It is a northeastern Pacific species which occurs from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California Mexico.

[1][2][3] This species is found in the middle and lower intertidal zone on exposed rocky shores.

The chiton's girdle is covered with coarse hair-like bristles or "setae".The visible exterior of the chiton's eight shell plates are typically a drab brown or grey-green, however on the underside the shell plates have a vibrant turquoise blue color.

Some mossy chitons are biofluorescent mainly around the girdle and may show a bright glowing green color under ultra-violet or blue light.

[4] Mossy chitons typically move about at night or when covered by a high tide in order to graze on the red and green algae of which their diet consists.