Haliotis
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Haliotis is a genus of abalone, the sole genus in the family Haliotidae. Some are very common and regarded as a delicacy; but most are uncommon to very rare (such as Haliotis pourtalesii) or difficult to obtain. They have one-piece shells and at first sight, they appear to be a single half of a bivalve.
They have a long history, dating from the Upper Cretaceous.
Abalone1.jpg
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Distribution
This family has a worldwide distribution, along the coastal waters of every continent, except South America and the eastern coast of the USA. Most abalones are found off the Southern Hemisphere coasts of; New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and in the Northern Hemisphere; Western North America and Japan.
Description
Abalone-farm1web.jpg
This family has unmistakable characteristics : the shell is rounded to oval, with 2 to 3 whorls, and the last one auriform ( = grown into a large ‘ear.’), giving rise to the common name ‘ear-shell”. The body whorl has a series of holes (four to ten depending on the species), near the anterior margin. There is no operculum. The back is convex, ranging from highly arched to very flattened. These shells cling solidly with their muscular foot to rocky surfaces at sublittoral depths.
Color
The color is very variable from species to species. The inside of the shell consists of iridiscent, silvery white to greenred mother-of-pearl through to Haliotis Iris which can comprise of; pinks and reds with predominant deep blues, greens and purples.
Reproduction
Abalones reach maturity at a small size. Their fertility is high and increases with size (from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time).
Diet
The larvae feed on plankton. The adults are herbivores and feed on macroalgae, preferring red algae.
Size
Sizes vary from 20 mm (Haliotis pulcherrima) to 200 mm (or even more) (Haliotis rufescens)
Taxonomy
The abalones belong to the large class of gastropods (Gastropoda) There is only one genus Haliotis in the abalone family (Haliotidae), and about four to seven subgenera. The taxonomy is somewhat confused. The number of species range from about 100 to about 130 species (due to the occurrence of hybrids).
The newest insights in the taxonomy of the Gastropoda give rise to a different taxonomy for the abalone family (Haliotidae) as follows :
- Class Gastropoda
- Subclass Orthogastropoda (Ponder & Lindberg 1996)
- Superorder Vetigastropoda (Salvini-Pläwen, 1980)
- Superfamily Haliotoidea
- Family Haliotidae
Pinkabalone_300.jpg
List of species with common name :
- Haliotis ancile : Shield Abalone.
- Haliotis aquatilis : Japanese Abalone.
- Haliotis asinina : Ass’s ear Abalone.
- Haliotis assimilis : Threaded Abalone.
- Haliotis australis : Australian Abalone, Austral Abalone.
- Haliotis brazieri : Brazier’s Abalone.
- Haliotis coccoradiata : Reddish-rayed Abalone.
- Haliotis conicopora : Conical Pore Abalone, Brownlip Abalone
- Haliotis corrugata : Pink Abalone.
- Haliotis crachedorii : Black Abalone.
Whiteabalone_300.jpg
- Haliotis crebrisculpta : Close Sculptures Abalone.
- Haliotis cyclobates : Whirling Abalone.
- Haliotis dalli : Dall’s Abalone.
- Haliotis discus : Disk Abalone.
- Haliotis diversicolor : Variously Coloured Abalone.
- Haliotis dohrniana : Dhorn’s Abalone.
- Haliotis elegans : Elegant Abalone.
- Haliotis emmae : Emma’s Abalone.
- Haliotis ethologus : Mimic Abalone.
- Haliotis fulgens : Green Abalone.
- Haliotis gigantea : Giant Abalone.
- Haliotis glabra : Glistening Abalone.
- Haliotis hargravesi : Hargraves’s Abalone.
- Haliotis howensis : Lord Howe Abalone.
- Haliotis iris : Blackfoot Abalone.
- Haliotis iris : Rainbow Abalone, Paua Abalone.
- Haliotis jacnensis : Jacna Abalone.
- Haliotis kamschatkana : Pinto Abalone.
- Haliotis laevigata smooth : Australian Abalone, Greenlip Abalone.
- Haliotis melculus : Honey Abalone.
- Haliotis midae : Midas Ear Abalone, Perlemoen Abalone.
- Haliotis multiperforata : Many-holed Abalone.
- Haliotis ovina : Oval Abalone, Sheep's Ear Abalone
- Haliotis parva : Canaliculate Abalone.
- Haliotis planata : Planate Abalone.
- Haliotis pourtalesii : Pourtale’s Abalone.
- Haliotis pulcherrima : Most Beautiful Abalone.
- Haliotis queketti : Quekett’s Abalone.
- Haliotis roei : Roe's Abalone
- Haliotis rosacea: Rosy Abalone.
- Haliotis ruber : Ruber Abalone.
- Haliotis rufescens: Red Abalone.
- Haliotis scalaris : Staircase Abalone, Ridged Ear Abalone.
- Haliotis semiplicata : Semiplicate Abalone.
- Haliotis sorenseni : White Abalone.
- Haliotis spadicea : Blood-spotted Abalone.
- Haliotis speciosa : Splendid Abalone.
- Haliotis squamata : Scaly Australian Abalone.
- Haliotis squamosa : Squamose Abalone.
- Haliotis tuberculata : European Edible Abalone, Tube Abalone, Tuberculate Ormer.
- Haliotis varia : Variable Abalone.
- Haliotis venusta : Lovely Abalone.
- Haliotis virginea : Virgin Abalone.
- Haliotis walallensis : Northern Green Abalone, Flat Abalone.
Other species :
Haliotis clathrata, Haliotis barbouri, Haliotis crebrisculpta, Haliotis dissona, Haliotis exigua, Haliotis fatui, Haliotis kamtschatkana assimilis, Haliotis kamtschatkana kamtschatkana, Haliotis madaka, Haliotis mariae, Haliotis patamakanthini, Haliotis pustulata, Haliotis roberti, Haliotis rubiginosa, Haliotis rubra, Haliotis rugosa, Haliotis thailandis, Haliotis unilateralis.
Literature
Conchological Iconography vol. 4 Haliotidae, Daniel L. Geiger, Conchbooks, ISBN 3-925919-31-7
External links
- Abalone biology (http://www.ocde.k12.ca.us/sciencek12/Tidepool7/index.htm)
- Online Archive of California (http://texts.cdlib.org/dynaxml/servlet/dynaXML?docId=kt738nb1zx&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=d0e112&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e112&query=0)
- Conchology (http://www.conchology.be/availableShells/SearchspeciesGallery.php?family=HALIOTIDAE&species=&index=true)
- Specimen shells; many pictures. (http://www.specimenshells.net/5266.htm)
- Man and Mollusk : many links (http://manandmollusc.net/links_gastropoda.html)
- Imagemap of worldwide abalone distribution (http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/zoology/abnet/species.html)de:Seeohren