''Concholepas concholepas'', the Chilean abalone, is a species of large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

. Despite the superficial resemblance, ''C. concholepas'' is not a true abalone (a species in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Haliotidae), but a member of the family

Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With about 1,600 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Ne ...

, also known as murex snails or rock snails. This species is native to the coasts of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, where it is called ''loco'' ( Chilean Spanish a loanword from Mapudungun) or ''pata de burro'' and ''chanque'' (

Peruvian Spanish Peruvian Spanish is a family of dialects of the Spanish language that have been spoken in Peru since brought over by Spanish conquistadors in 1492. There are four varieties spoken in the country, by about 94.4% of the population. The four Peruv ...

). Due to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in the ...

, the harvesting of this species in Chile has been limited by law since 1989.

Shell description

''Concholepas concholepas'' has a thick, slightly oval, and white-brown to purple-grey shell. Its very few whorls makes it resemble a Phrygian cap in shape. The outer surface of the shell shows strong lamellose ribs of which are both radial and circular-concentric. The shell is shaped almost like that of an abalone, with a very large aperture compared to other muricids. A ''loco'' cannot hide completely inside the shell if it is turned upside down, so has no need of its operculum; instead, it relies on its strong foot to remain in place. The shell is made of calcite with an inner layer of aragonite. The shells of this species are used as ashtrays in Chile.

Ecology

Habitat and distribution

''Concholepas concholepas'' is a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

that lives on rocks in temperate waters from sea level to depths of 40 m. Its diet consists of mytilids (such as '' Semimytilus algosus'' and '' Perumytilus purpuratus'') and

barnacles A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosiv ...

(such as ''

Chthamalus scabrosus ''Notochthamalus scabrosus'', the only species in the genus ''Notochthamalus'', is a species of barnacle found along the south-western and south-eastern coasts of South America, from Peru to the Falkland Islands. The species is found almost exclu ...

''). Its geographic distribution ranges from

Lobos de Afuera Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known mai ...

, to

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

, including the Juan Fernández Islands.
Catastro genético de locos y erizos del litoral chileno. Ministerio de Agricultura, Gobierno de Chile

Lifecycle

''Concholepas concholepas'' is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, which means the populations are divided between male and females, though with no external evidence of

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

. The fertilisation in this species occurs internally. In central Chile, females lay

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

capsules on low intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky surfaces during southern autumn months. After around one month of development inside the capsules, small planktotrophic

veliger A veliger is the planktonic larva of many kinds of sea snails and freshwater snails, as well as most bivalve molluscs (clams) and tusk shells. Description The veliger is the characteristic larva of the gastropod, bivalve and scaphopod ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

e (260 µm) are released. The larvae spend the following three months in the water column and once they become competent, they dwell at the sea surface until they settle on rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats down to 30 m. The normal size at which the snail reaches sexual maturity is between 5.4 and 6.7 cm; it takes about four years to reach this size.

Human uses

''Concholepas concholepas'' is used in Chilean cuisine and is commercially marketed worldwide as a delicacy — misleadingly under the name "Chilean abalone". (True abalones are

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...

s, whereas ''Concholepas concholepas'' is a muricid, a

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other ...

). Its economic value and ecological importance as top predator have made it the most studied marine

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

species in Chile.

Commercial fishery

On the Chilean coast, ''C. concholepas'' is one of the most important edible mollusc species and is a major product of the aquacultural industry. In 1975, about 5,000 tons were extracted annually. In 1980, the extraction peaked, with a catch of 25,000 tons. Since 1989, extraction is illegal in Chile, but from 1992 onwards, some exceptions have been made for accredited commercial divers. The minimum size allowed for extraction is 10 cm. Currently, the only legal way for artisan fishermen or other people to catch locos is to have a Marine Area of Benthonic Resources Extraction permit. Even in these areas, though, extraction is prohibited from December to July from Valparaíso Region northward and from January or February to July south of it. Populations have shrunk and a recent study shows extraction is making an artificial selection to eliminate faster-growing individuals. The same study also showed the populations in Chile are relatively homogeneous with low genetic variability. Due to overextraction, scientists have studied the possibility of commercial cultivation since 1986.

Cuisine

In Chilean cuisine, the meat of the foot of these snails is cooked and eaten with mayonnaise or as a '' chupe de locos'' soup in an

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

bowl. The ''chupe de locos'' typically contains about six snails' feet, 100 grams of a fatty cheese, such as

Chanco cheese Chanco is Chilean cow's milk cheese originally from the Chanco farm in Maule Region. Now it is produced all over south-central Chile, and represents almost 50% of Chilean cheese consumption. It is a semi-hard ripened cheese with reduced lactose c ...

, two eggs, four spoons of grated bread, salt, and paprika.

Possible medical use

The hemocyanin found in the blood of ''C. concholepas'' has immunotherapeutic effects against bladder and

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

. In 2006 research, mice were primed with ''C. concholepas'' before implantation of bladder

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

(MBT-2) cells. Mice treated with ''C. concholepas'' showed a significant antitumor effect. The effects included prolonged survival, decreased tumor growth and incidence and lack of toxic effects.

Other possible scientific uses

''Concholepas concholepas'' shells are a potential proxy-bearer for

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

studies. There are many fossil shell accumulations in

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...

coastal terraces. Climate indicators are, by far, less abundant for ancient cold seas; therefore, investigating the ability of ''C. concholepas'' will provide valuable signals for long-term evolution of the

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between and below the sea surface. Air ma ...

s in cold seas, and might be important in reconstructing the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) history.

References

Sources

*
Fishing resources database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concholepas Concholepas

concholepas ''Concholepas'' is a genus of medium-sized to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the rock shells.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Concholepas Lamarck, 1801. Accessed through: World Register of M ...

Molluscs of South America Molluscs of Chile Fauna of Peru Commercial molluscs Gastropods described in 1789