Abalone (from Spanish Abulón) are a species of shellfish (mollusks) from the Haliotidae family and Haliotis genus. Abalone belong to the large class Gastropoda. There is only one genus in the family Haliotidae and about four to seven subgenera. The taxonomy is somewhat confused. The number of species ranges from about 100 to 130 species (due to the occurrence of hybrids).

Abalone are characterized by a richly coloured inside shell made of nacre. This is also called ear-shell, ormer in Jersey and Guernsey, perlemoen in South Africa, and pāua in New Zealand.

The meat of this mollusk is considered a delicacy in certain parts of Latin America (especially Chile), South East Asia, and East Asia (especially in China, Japan, and Korea).

Description
The Haliotid family has a worldwide distribution, along the coastal 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 mainly in cold waters, off the Southern Hemisphere coasts of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and Western North America and Japan in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Chilean vast Pacific coast, the species called loco (Concholepas Concholepas, Bruguière, 1789) has a hard shell of a pitch-black color, and is widely exploited and consumed.

The family has unmistakable characteristics: the shell is rounded to oval, with two to three whorls, and the last one auriform, grown into a large "ear", giving rise to the common name ‘ear-shell’. The body whorl has a series of holes — four to ten depending on the species, near the anterior margin.

There is no operculum. The back is convex, ranging from highly arched to very flattened. These shells cling solidly with their muscular foot to rocky surfaces at sublittoral depths. The color is very variable from species to species. The inside of the shell consists of iridescent, silvery white to green-red mother-of-pearl through to Haliotis Iris which can comprise of pinks and reds with predominant deep blues, greens and purples.

Abalones reach maturity at a small size. Their fecundity is high and increases with size (from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time).

The larvae are lecithotrophic or feed off a yolk sac. The adults are herbivores and feed with their rhipidoglossan radula on macroalgae, preferring red algae. Sizes vary from 20 mm (Haliotis pulcherrima) to 200 mm (or even more) (Haliotis rufescens).

Abalone shell

The dust created through the grinding and cutting of abalone shell is dangerous and appropriate safeguards should be taken to protect a person from inhaling its particles. A dust respirator that is NIOSH-approved N95, made for fine particles, using a ventilation system and wet grinding are requirements to working the shell safely. The Calcium carbonate is a respiratory irritant and the particles can get into the lower respiratory tree and cause irritant bronchitis and other respiratory irritation responses. The usual symptoms are cough and sputum production, and secondary infections can occur. If there are proteins left in the shell matrix, it is also possible that they could trigger an allergic (asthmatic) attack. In general, the more someone is exposed to something that triggers their asthma reaction, then the larger the reaction. Allergic skin reactions can also occur.

The iridescence of the inside of the abalone shell lends itself to decorative inlays—in guitars, for example

Sport harvesting

California
Sport harvesting of Red Abalone is permitted 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 prohibited. Taking of abalone is not permitted south of the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. There is a size minimum of seven inches measured across the shell and a quantity limit of three per day and 24 per year. A person may be in possession of only three abalone at any given time.

Abalone may only be taken in April, May, June, August, September, October and November. Transportation of abalone may only legally occur while the abalone is still attached in the shell. Sale of sport obtained 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 is normally equipped with 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/33' deep; less common are freedivers who can work deeper than 10 m/33'. 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 extremely good, and a ten inch plus (250 mm) abalone would be a trophy catch. Rock- or shore-picking is a separate method from diving where the rock picker feels underneath rocks at 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.

New Zealand
There is an extensive global black market in the collection and export of abalone meat. In New Zealand, where abalone is called pāua in the Māori language, this can be a particularly awkward problem where the right to harvest pāua can be granted legally under Māori customary rights. When such permits to harvest are abused, it is frequently difficult to police. The legal recreational daily limit is 10 pāua per diver with a minimum shell length of 125 mm. The limit is strictly enforced by roving Ministry of Fisheries officers with the backing of the police. Pāua 'poaching' is a major industry in New Zealand with many thousands being taken illegally, often undersized. Convictions have resulted in seizure of diving gear, boats, and motor vehicles as well as fines and in rare cases; imprisonment. The Ministry of Fisheries expects in the year 2004/05, nearly 1000 tons of pāua will be poached, with 75% of that being undersized.

Highly polished New Zealand pāua shells are extremely popular as souvenirs with their striking blue, green, and purple iridescence. Transporting unprocessed abalone shells out of New Zealand is illegal.

South Africa
The largest abalone in South Africa, the perlemoen, Haliotis midae, occurs along approximately two-thirds of the country’s coastline. Perlemoen-diving has been a recreational activity for many years, but stocks are currently being threatened by illegal commercial harvesting.

Channel Islands

from the January 1 to April 30, which occur on the full or new moon and two days following. No ormers may be taken from the beach that are under 8 cm in shell length. Gatherers are not allowed to wear wetsuits or even put their heads underwater. Any breach of these laws is a criminal offence and can lead to fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison. The demand for ormers is such that they led to the world's first underwater arrest, when Mr. Kempthorne-Leigh of Guernsey was arrested by a police officer in full diving gear when illegally diving for ormers.

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

Species

• Haliotis ancile : Shield Abalone.
• Haliotis aquatilis : Japanese Abalone.
• Haliotis asinina : Ass’s ear Abalone.
• Haliotis assimilis : Threaded Abalone.
• Haliotis australis : Australian Abalone, Austral Abalone.
• Haliotis brazieri : Brazier’s Abalone.
• Haliotis coccoradiata : Reddish-rayed Abalone.
• Haliotis conicopora : Conical Pore Abalone, Brownlip Abalone
• Haliotis corrugata : Pink Abalone.
• Haliotis crachedorii : Black Abalone.

White Abalone (Haliotis sorenseni)Haliotis crebrisculpta : Close Sculptures Abalone.

• Haliotis cyclobates : Whirling Abalone.
• Haliotis dalli : Dall’s Abalone.
• Haliotis discus : Disk Abalone.
• Haliotis diversicolor : Variously Coloured Abalone.
• Haliotis dohrniana : Dhorn’s Abalone.
• Haliotis elegans : Elegant Abalone.
• Haliotis emmae : Emma’s Abalone.
• Haliotis ethologus : Mimic Abalone.
• Haliotis fulgens : Green Abalone.
• Haliotis gigantea : Giant Abalone.
• Haliotis glabra : Glistening Abalone.
• Haliotis hargravesi : Hargraves’s Abalone.
• Haliotis howensis : Lord Howe Abalone.
• Haliotis iris : Blackfoot Abalone.
• Haliotis iris : Rainbow Abalone, Paua Abalone.
• Haliotis jacnensis : Jacna Abalone.
• Haliotis kamschatkana : Pinto Abalone.
• Haliotis laevigata smooth : Australian Abalone, Greenlip Abalone.
• Haliotis melculus : Honey Abalone.
• Haliotis midae : Midas Ear Abalone, Perlemoen Abalone.
• Haliotis multiperforata : Many-holed Abalone.
• Haliotis ovina : Oval Abalone, Sheep's Ear Abalone
• Haliotis parva : Canaliculate Abalone.
• Haliotis planata : Planate Abalone.
• Haliotis pourtalesii : Pourtale’s Abalone.
• Haliotis pulcherrima : Most Beautiful Abalone.
• Haliotis queketti : Quekett’s Abalone.
• Haliotis roei : Roe's Abalone
• Haliotis rosacea: Rosy Abalone.
• Haliotis rubra : Ruber Abalone.
• Haliotis rufescens: Red Abalone.
• Haliotis scalaris : Staircase Abalone, Ridged Ear Abalone.
• Haliotis semiplicata : Semiplicate Abalone.
• Haliotis sorenseni : White Abalone.
• Haliotis spadicea : Blood-spotted Abalone.
• Haliotis speciosa : Splendid Abalone.
• Haliotis squamata : Scaly Australian Abalone.
• Haliotis squamosa : Squamose Abalone.
• Haliotis tuberculata : European Edible Abalone, Tube Abalone, Tuberculate Ormer.
• Haliotis varia : Variable Abalone.
• Haliotis venusta : Lovely Abalone.
• Haliotis virginea : Virgin Abalone.
• Haliotis walallensis : Northern Green Abalone, Flat Abalone.

Other species : Haliotis clathrata, Haliotis barbouri, Haliotis crebrisculpta, Haliotis dissona, Haliotis exigua, Haliotis fatui, Haliotis kamtschatkana assimilis, Haliotis kamtschatkana kamtschatkana, Haliotis madaka, Haliotis mariae, Haliotis patamakanthini, Haliotis pustulata, Haliotis roberti, Haliotis rubiginosa, Haliotis rubra, Haliotis rugosa, Haliotis thailandis, Haliotis unilateralis.