The pink abalone,

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''Haliotis corrugata'', is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of large edible

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family

Haliotidae ''Haliotis'', common name abalone, is the only genus in the family Haliotidae. This genus once contained six subgenera. These subgenera have become alternate representations of ''Haliotis''. The genus consists of small to very large, edible, ...

, the

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

.Oliver, A.P.H. (2004). ''Guide to Seashells of the World.'' Buffalo: Firefly Books. 18.

Subspecies

* ''H. c. corrugata'' W. Wood, 1828 (synonyms: ''Haliotis diegoensis'' Orcutt, 1900; ''Haliotis nodosa'' Philippi, 1845) * ''H. c. oweni'' Talmadge, 1966 - synonym: ''Haliotis oweni'' Talmadge, 1966Rosenberg, G. (2010). ''Haliotis corrugata'' Wood, 1828. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=445308 on 2011-08-24

Distribution

Pink abalone can be found along the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

coast of North America from

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to Bahia de Santa Maria,

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Description

The

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

is thick and characterized by strong corrugations and is more circular than other American abalone. The two to four open respiratory apertures have edges that are strongly elevated above the surface of the shell. These holes collectively make up the selenizone, which forms as the shell grows. The epipodium is a “ruffle” of tissue along the side of the foot. The head and epipodial tentacles are black, but the epipodial fringes are a mottled black and white, with many tubercles on the surface and a lacy edge. "The large shell is subcircular or short, oval, very convex, like a halfglobe. The surface is corrugated all over with nodose wrinkles. The three open perforations are elevated and tubular. The inner surface is dark, very brilliantly iridescent. The roughened muscle scar is distinct. The outline is more rounded than usual, being a very short oval. The back is very convex. The strong epidermis is dull,olive-brown with usually wide oblique greenish intervals. The

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

begins as crowded spiral cords or

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

e, but over the greater part of the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...

these become nodose at short intervals, or are crossed by obliquely radiating corrugations. It is angled at the row of the holes. Below these there is a distinct spiral channel or furrow, bounded below by a more or less distinct row of nodules. And between this and the columellar margin it is obliquely corrugated. The folds scalloping the lower part of the columellar margin. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

does not project above the general outline of the shell. The inner surface is dark, iridescent, with red predominating in the coloration. The muscle impression is large, distinct, roughened all over, and like fine mosaic work in its brilliant coloration. The flat or concave columellar plate slopes strongly inward, and is not at all truncate at the base. Above it, it almost conceals the small cavity of the spire. The large tubular perforations number sometimes two, but normally three."H.A. Pilsbry (1890) Manual of Conchology XII; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1890
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Ecology

Habitat

This species occupies sheltered waters at depths between 20 and 118 feet (6 – 36 m). They are herbivores, feeding on

kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...

and drifting

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

Life cycle

Pink abalone have separate sexes and broadcast spawn from March to November. Maturity is reached at about 1.4 in (35 mm) length or three to four years. Lifespan is 70 years or more.

Predators

Predators of this species other than mankind are

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of ...

sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

s, large

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, and

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

Diseases

Pink abalone are subject to a chronic, progressive and lethal disease: the Withering Syndrome or abalone wasting disease, leading to mass mortality.

Threats and conservation

Pink abalone are threatened by historic

overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

, illegal harvest, withering abalone syndrome disease, and climate change. In 1996, the California Department of Fish and Game closed the commercial and recreational abalone fisheries in California, but populations continued to decline. California has
Abalone Recovery Management Plan
to guide conservation efforts. The pink abalone is a US

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

br>Species of Concern
Species of Concern are those species about which the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

National Marine Fisheries Service
has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U
Endangered Species Act
Information regarding the status of pink abalone in Mexico is scant. A commercial fishery for pink abalone is still in place in Mexico and is managed by local cooperatives.

References

* Geiger D.L. & Owen B. (2012) ''Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae''. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. viii + 361 pp. 9 February 2012page(s): 77

External links

Gastropods.com

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3096257 corrugata Commercial molluscs Gastropods described in 1828 Taxa named by William Wood (zoologist) Biota of the Temperate Northern Pacific