Black Abalone
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| Black Abalone | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Black Abalone used to be the most abundant aquatic mollusk on the Pacific Coast. Now, through intense fishing and the Withering Syndrome, it has much declined in population.
Natural predators are sea otters, sea stars, fishes and octopus.
There is a subspecies : Haliotis cracherodii californiensis, to be found around Guadelupe Island, off Baja California (Mexico).
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Scientific synonyms
- Haliotis expansa (Talmadge, 1954)
- Haliotis imperforata (Dall, 1919)
- Haliotis rosea (Orcutt, 1900)
- Haliotis splendidula (Williamson, 1893)
Length
from 7,5 cm to maximum 20 cm
Description
The exterior shell is smoother than most abalones. It has a dark brown, dark green or almost black color. The interior of the shell is pink and green iridescent. The tentacles are black. There are usually five to seven open shell holes.
Habitat
Clings to rocky surfaces in high intertidal zones, up to 6 m deep.
Range
Occurs along the West Coast of the USA, from Oregon to Baja California.
Diseases
Subject to a chronic, progressive and lethal disease: the Withering Syndrome or Abalone wasting disease, leading to mass mortality. This caused the closure in California of fishing for black abalones in 1993.
Reference
The Hamlyn Guide to Shells of the World, APH Oliver ISBN 0 600 56577 7
External link
- Gastropods.com (http://www.gastropods.com/2/Shell_1032.html)
- Withering Syndrome in Black Abalone (http://www.piscoweb.org/outreach/pubs/abalone.html)