Abalone

Abalone
A living abalone
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Orthogastropoda
Superorder:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Archeogastropoda
Superfamily:	Haliotoidea
Family:	Haliotidae Rafinesque, 1815
Genus:	Haliotis Linnaeus, 1758

A piece of abalone shell

The iridescent inside surface of an abalone shell

The raw meat of abalone

Abalone (from Spanish Abulón) are a type of Gastropod shellfish.

Abalone are known by their colorful inside shell. This is also called ear-shell, ormer in Guernsey, perlemoen in South Africa, and pāua in New Zealand.

The meat of this shellfish is thought to be delicious in some parts of Latin America (especially Chile), South East Asia, and East Asia (especially in China, Japan, and Korea).

Description

Abalones live all over the world. They can be seen along the waters of every continent, except the Atlantic coast of South America, the Caribbean, and the East Coast of the United States. Most abalones are found in cold waters, along the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and Western North America and Japan in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Chilean Pacific coast, the species called loco (Concholepas Concholepas, Bruguière, 1789) has a hard, black shell, and is eaten by many people.

Abalone have unique features: the shell is round, with two to three spirals. The last spiral is grown into a large "ear"-like shape, which explains the name 'ear-shell'. The inside of the shell is shiny, from silvery white to green-red mother-of-pearl.

Abalones can start to give birth at a small size. Their fertility is high and increases with size (from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time).

Young albalones, called larvae, feed on plankton. The adults eat plants and feed on algae. They like to eat red algae. Their size can be as small as 20 mm to as big as 200 mm.

Abalone shell

The shell of the abalone is known for being very strong. It is made of very tiny calcium carbonate tiles stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a sticky protein substance. Allergic skin reactions and asthma attacks can happen when breathing the dust made when these tiles are broken down.

The colorful inside part of the abalone shell can be used for decorative inlays, in guitars, for example.

California

Sport harvesting of Red Abalone is allowed with a California fishing license and an abalone stamp card. Abalone may only be taken using breath-hold techniques: freediving or shorepicking. SCUBA diving for abalone is strictly not allowed. Abalone harvesting is not allowed south of the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. There is a size minimum of seven inches measured across the shell and a limit of three per day and 24 per year that can be taken. Abalone may only be taken in April, May, June, August, September, October and November, but they may not be taken in July, December, January, February or March. Transportation of abalone is only legal while the abalone is still attached to the shell. Sale of sport-caught abalone is illegal, including the shell. Only Red Abalone may be taken; black, white, pink, and flat abalone are protected by law.

An abalone diver normally uses a very thick wetsuit, including a hood, booties, and gloves. He or she would also wear a mask, snorkel, weight belt, abalone iron, and abalone gauge. It is common to take abalone in water a few inches up to 10 m/28' deep. Freedivers who can work deeper than 10 m/28' are less common. Abalone are normally found on rocks near food sources (kelp). An abalone iron is used to pry the abalone from the rock before it can fully clamp down. Visibility is normally five to ten feet. Divers commonly dive out of boats, kayaks, tube floats or directly off the shore. An eight inch abalone is considered a good catch, a nine inch would be very good, and a ten inch plus (250 mm) abalone would be an excellent catch. Rock- or shore-picking is a different method from diving where the rock picker feels below rocks during low tides for abalone.

There has been a trade in diving to catch abalones off parts of the United States coast from before 1939. In World War II, many of these abalone divers were recruited into the United States armed forces and trained as frogmen.

Farming

See also: Aquaculture

There have been a number of attempts to artificially grow (farm) abalone for the purpose of consumption.

Other websites

Wikisource has original 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica text related to:

Abalone

• California Red Abalone
• Bullet proof abalone
• "Abalone biology". Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20060421090434/http://www.ocde.k12.ca.us/sciencek12/Tidepool7/index.htm.
• Online Archive of California
• Conchology
• Specimen shells; many pictures.
• New Zealand Natural Abalone (Paua) Pearls; interesting pictures.
• "Man and Mollusk : many links". Archived from the original on 2007-07-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20070709045929/http://manandmollusc.net/links_gastropoda.html.
• Natural Abalone "horn" Pearls : Sample photos
• Imagemap of worldwide abalone distribution
• Hardy's Internet Guide to Marine Gastropods : Shell Catalog
• "Abalone: Species Diversity". Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20070621224333/http://www.biosbcc.net/ocean/marinesci/06future/abspdiv.htm.
• Team Spawns Rare White Abalone
• White Abalone - An Extinct Possibility?
• "Muricidae - Concholepas". Archived from the original on 2007-08-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070827012701/http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/murex28/concholepas.htm.
• Avoiding offshore transport of competent larvae during upwelling events: the case of the gastropod Concholepas Concholepas in Central Chile