The
white abalone, scientific name
Haliotis sorenseni, is a
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of large, edible, sea
snailThe word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Snails lacking a shell or having only a very small one are...
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Haliotidae, the abalones.
It is an endangered species in the United States. The white abalone may now have the smallest population of all 8 of the abalone species on the west coast of North America.
Historically the white abalone ranged from
Point ConceptionPoint Conception extends into the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north-south trending portion of coast to the north and the east-west trending part of the...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
to
Baja CaliforniaBaja California is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, north...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional 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...
, and was found especially on the offshore islands.
The white abalone is the deepest dwelling of eight species of California abalones, living at depths from 80 to 200 feet.
This species is said to have one of the most tender and flavorful meats of all the abalone species.
The
white abalone, scientific name
Haliotis sorenseni, is a
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of large, edible, sea
snailThe word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Snails lacking a shell or having only a very small one are...
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Haliotidae, the abalones.
It is an endangered species in the United States. The white abalone may now have the smallest population of all 8 of the abalone species on the west coast of North America.
Distribution
Historically the white abalone ranged from
Point ConceptionPoint Conception extends into the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north-south trending portion of coast to the north and the east-west trending part of the...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
to
Baja CaliforniaBaja California is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, north...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional 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...
, and was found especially on the offshore islands.
Habitat
The white abalone is the deepest dwelling of eight species of California abalones, living at depths from 80 to 200 feet.
Human use
This species is said to have one of the most tender and flavorful meats of all the abalone species. Currently, white abalone is being
maricultureMariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish,...
d in order to produce young that can be placed back in the ocean, in hopes of bringing this species back to secure population levels before it becomes extinct.
History of human exploitation of this species
This species was not discovered until 1940. Scripps Institution of Oceanography biologists conducted surveys of white abalone deep water habitat in the early 1970s, finding high concentrations of about one white abalone per square yard. Such densities were comparable to abundance of shallower species of abalone found in previously unfished or protected areas. Unfortunately, the high demand for this species led to a “boom-and-bust” fishery, which decimated the populations of this species in seven years.
Shell description
The white abalone usually has between 3-5 open holes in its shell. The outside shell color varies anywhere between red to brown while the inside is white and pink.
External links