Blood-spotted abalone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blood-spotted Abalone
Apical view of a shell of Haliotis spadicea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Vetigastropoda
Superfamily: Haliotoidea
Family: Haliotidae
Genus: Haliotis
Species: H. spadicea
Binomial name
Haliotis spadicea
Donovan, 1808
Synonyms[1]
  • Haliotis ficiformis Menke, 1844
  • Haliotis sanguinea Hanley, 1840
  • Haliotis sinuata Perry, 1811

The blood-spotted abalone, scientific name Haliotis spadicea, is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. This species is common on rocky shores on the coast of South Africa.[1][2]

Shell description

The exterior of the shell of this species is reddish-purple in color, often with some white blotches. The shell has between 5 and 8 open respiratory pores along the margin. These holes collectively make up what is known as the selenizone which form as the shell grows. The snail shell grows to approximately 70 millimetres (2.8 in) in length.[3]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off South Africa.

Human use

The meat of this abalone is edible, and has been consumed by people living along the coast in the past,[4] although abalone fishing is now banned in South Africa.[5]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bouchet, P. (2012). Haliotis spadicea Donovan, 1808. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207658 on 2012-03-09
  2. ↑ Oliver, A.P.H. (2004). Guide to Seashells of the World. Buffalo: Firefly Books. 21.
  3. ↑ Steyn, Douw; Markus Lussi (1998). Marine Shells of South Africa. Ekoglide Publishers: South Africa. ISBN 0-9583889-5-4. 
  4. ↑ Lasiak, Theresa (1991). "The Susceptibility and/or Resilance of Rocky Littoral Molluscs to Stock Depletion by Indigenous Coastal People of Transkei, South Africa". Biological Conservation 56 (3): 245–254. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(91)90060-M. 
  5. ↑ Benton, Shaun (26 October 2007). "South Africa bans abalone fishing". Retrieved 22 May 2009. 
  • Geiger D.L. & Owen B. (2012) Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. viii + 361 pp. [29 February 2012] page(s): 126
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haliotis spadicea.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.