Red Abalone
The Red Abalone is the most common of Abalone found on the northern coast of california. Abalone are large shelled snails prized for their meat as a food source. Their iridiscent shells also attract the eyes of inlayers, and guitar luthiers. Classification
The Red Abalone is in the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda, Family Haliotidae, Genus haliotis which means sea ear, and species rufescens.
Human
Use and Endangerment
Abalones
have been used by humans as a source of food since the beginning. Their
meat is high in protein and their shells contain a iridiscent nacre
which is prized by many and over harvested for intrinsic rewards. Over
time the abalone population has been
decimated and the wild abalone living off the coast of California now
number lowly in the 10,000mt down from 18,000, 20 years ago.
Poaching of The Red Abalone is highly prohibited along
California's coast. Link to California State Law on Red Abalone
Farming
Abalone farming, to date, has been limited by the quality sand quantity of the macroalgae sources worldwide. A high quality low cost manufactured food has been a recent development. Many new farms are asking Fishtech to design or redesign their equipment and procedures to allow their crop to be grown on 100% manufactured food.Link to info on Abalone farming
Niche
The Red Abalone is a bottom feeder. They are found on
rocky bottoms in intertidal zones, up to 100ft in depth. It eats
algae as a young snail. As it matures its diet shifts to Bull Kelp and
Giant Kelp. Its natural predators are the sea otter and humans.
Link to Abalone related videos.
Anatomy
The
anatomy of
the Red Abalone is like that of any other sea snail. First off its
shell is different from other Gastropods, with a row of respitory
pores. It is made up of the same Calcium Carbonate as other Gastropods.
Its muscular foot has strong suction permitting the abalone to
clamp to hard surfaces. A column of muscle attaches the
body to its shell. The epipodium, a sensory structure and extension of
the foot which bears tentacles, is encircled by the mantle. The
epipodium goes beyond the shell edge.
Link to general information about the Haliotidae family.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
The Red Abalone broadcast spawn by releasing their respective eggs and sperm into the surrounding sea water. the Zygote develops into a veliger, zooplankton which float around between 7-14 days. The chemical which causes them to settle down is GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) which is created by Coralline algae, and is the first food source for the young abalone.
Link to Information on Reproduction of Abalone