Abalone
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2021-12-02

Abalone, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1300 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Haliotidae
#Commercial_molluscs
#Extant_Late_Cretaceous_first_appearances
#Organic_gemstones
#Mollusc_common_names
Abalone （/ˈæbəloʊniː/ （listen） or /ˌæbəˈloʊniː/; via Spanish abulón, from Rumsen aulón） is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae.
Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or muttonshells in parts of Australia, ormer in the UK, perlemoen in South Africa, and the Maori name for three species in New Zealand is pāua.
Abalones are marine snails.
Their taxonomy puts them in the family Haliotidae, which contains only one genus, Haliotis, which once contained six subgenera.
These subgenera have become alternate representations of Haliotis.
The number of species recognized worldwide ranges between 30 and 130 with over 230 species-level taxa described.
The most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 species valid, with 18 additional subspecies.
The shells of abalones have a low, open spiral structure, and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shell's outer edge.
The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre （mother-of-pearl）, which in many species is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong,
changeable colors which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, jewelry, and as a source of colorful mother-of-pearl.
The flesh of abalones is widely considered to be a desirable food, and is consumed raw or cooked by a variety of cultures.
The iridescent surface inside a red abalone shell from Northern California （the adjacent coin is 25 mm in diameter） Abalone vary in size
from 20 mm （0.8 in） （Haliotis pulcherrima） to 200 mm （8 in） while Haliotis rufescens is the largest of the genus at 12 in （30 cm）.
The shell of abalones is convex, rounded to oval in shape, and may be highly arched or very flattened.
The shell of t...