''Haliotis discus'' 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), ...

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 ...

native to Japan and Korea.

Taxonomy and subspecies

''Haliotis discus'' was described by

Lovell Augustus Reeve Lovell Augustus Reeve (19 April 1814 – 18 November 1865) was an English conchologist and publisher. Life Born at Ludgate Hill, London, on 19 April 1814, he was the son of Thomas Reeve, draper and mercer, and Fanny Reeve, née Lovell. After ...

in 1846. Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are known: * ''Haliotis discus discus'' Reeve, 1846 – Japan (

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

) and Korea (

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

) * ''Haliotis discus hannai'' Ino, 1953 – Japan (

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku) and Korea

Distribution and habitat

''Haliotis discus'' is native to the shallow

subtidal The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminate ...

waters off Japan and Korea in the north western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, 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 ...

. ''H. discus discus'' typically hides between rocks found at depths of , sometimes as deep as , in the waters around Jeju Island in Korea and Kyushu, Shikoku, and all but the most north eastern areas of Honshu in Japan. ''H. discus hannai'' is typically found in exposed habitats at depths of in waters the around Korea and the north eastern coast of Honshu and western coast of Hokkaido in Japan.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 100 mm and 150 mm. "This species is closely allied in all characters to '' Haliotis kamtschatkana'' but is more elongated than the typical Kamtschatkana. The interior surface has a peculiarly metallic luster, light bronze-green and coppery-red predominating."H.A. Pilsbry (1890) Manual of Conchology XII; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1890
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Ecology

''Haliotis discus'' larvae settle on crust-forming

coralline algae Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of re ...

and feed on

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma'') is any member of a large group comprising several Genus, genera of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms make up a significant portion of Earth's B ...

s as they develop, moving out into kelp beds as they near maturity. Primary predators of this species include crabs, starfishes, and octopuses. In ''H. discus discus'',

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

occurs from October to December. Adults feed on

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

s such as '' Eisenia bicyclis'', '' Undaria pinnatifida'', and '' Ecklonia'' species.

References

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

External links

* discus Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Marine gastropods Gastropods described in 1846 Taxa named by Lovell Augustus Reeve Molluscs of Japan Molluscs of Korea Endangered biota of Asia Gastropods of Asia Commercial molluscs {{Haliotidae-stub