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Red abalone
 
 
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The red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, is a species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of very large edible sea snail
Snail

The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
, a marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone
Abalone

Abalone are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis....
s, ormer shells or paua
Paua

Paua or paua is the Maori name given to three species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae , known in the USA as abalone, and in the UK as ormer shells....
.

Red abalone is the largest, and most common abalone found in the northern part of the state of California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, and it is the only species of abalone
Abalone

Abalone are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis....
 stil legally harvested (on a restricted basis) there.
red abalone can be found along the west coast of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 to Baja California
Baja California

Baja California is the northernmost States of Mexico of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California....
, and Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
.

abalone live in rocky areas with kelp.






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Encyclopedia


The red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, is a species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of very large edible sea snail
Snail

The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
, a marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone
Abalone

Abalone are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis....
s, ormer shells or paua
Paua

Paua or paua is the Maori name given to three species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae , known in the USA as abalone, and in the UK as ormer shells....
.

Red abalone is the largest, and most common abalone found in the northern part of the state of California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, and it is the only species of abalone
Abalone

Abalone are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis....
 stil legally harvested (on a restricted basis) there.
Abaloneoutside

Distribution

The red abalone can be found along the west coast of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 to Baja California
Baja California

Baja California is the northernmost States of Mexico of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California....
, and Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
.

Habitat

Red abalone live in rocky areas with kelp. They primarily feed on bull kelp and giant kelp. They are found from the intertidal zone to water of 100 foot depth.

Shell description

The red abalone's shell length can reach a maximum of 31 cm
Centimetre

A centimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
, making it the largest species of abalone in the world.

The shell is large, thick, and dome-shaped shell. It is usually a brick red color externally. Typically the shell has three or four oval respiratory pores. The inside of the shell is strongly iridescent and has a large central muscle.

External anatomy of the soft parts

Below the shell the black epipodium and tentacles can be seen. The underside of the foot is a yellowish white in color.

Diseases

Red abalones are subject to a chronic, progressive and lethal disease: the Withering Syndrome
Withering Abalone Syndrome

Withering abalone syndrome is a disease of the abalone shellfish, primarily found in the black abalone and red abalone species.First described in 1986, it is caused by the bacterium "Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis", which attacks the lining of the abalone's digestive tract, inhibiting the production of digestive enzymes....
 or abalone wasting disease. This disease has had a poorly understood impact on the species overall, but populations still seem low.

Human use

Red abalone has been exploited since prehistoric times--red abalone shells have been found in Channel Island archaeological sites dated to nearly 12,000 years old. Red abalone middens--refuse deposits where red abalone shells are a major constituent--are abundant in archaeological sites of the Northern Channel Islands dated between about 7500 an 3500 years ago. The Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
 Chumash
Chumash

The Chumash are Native Americans in the United States people who historically inhabit chiefly central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, California, Ventura, California and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu, California in the south....
 peoples also harvested this species along the Central California
Central California

California has two regions with "Central" in their names:*Central Valley *Central Coast, CaliforniaThe southern part of the Central Valley and all of the Central Coast are south of the major Northern California urban areas and north of the major Southern California urban area and the Tehachapi Mountains....
 coast in the pre-contact era.. The Chumash and other California Indians also used red abalone shells to make a variety of fishhooks, beads, ornaments, and other artifacts.

Farming

Because of the destruction of most wild populations of abalone, abalone farming has become a booming business. The red abalone is the most popular species farmed. Unlike some aquaculture, growing abalone has little environmental impact because they eat fast-growing kelp, which regrows quickly upon harvest.

Wild harvest

Red abalone populations were decimated by commercial fishing through most of its range. As a result, commericial fishing is currently illegal throughout its range, leaving wild red abalone a popular target of poachers.

In Northern California, however, commercial fishing was only legal for three years during World War Two. As a result, a recreational fishery still exists in northern California. Because scuba diving to harvest abalone is banned, the fishery consists of shore pickers searching the rocks at low tide, and free divers using breath-hold diving to search for them. This essentially creates a reserve for the abalone in the water below thirty feet, where few divers are skilled enough to go. Currently, the minimum legal size is 7 inches, and three specimens may be taken per day. There is also a yearly legal limit of 24 abalone per person.

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