''Haliotis varia'', common name the variable abalone or the common ear shell, 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), ...

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 Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Haliotidae, the abalones.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Haliotis varia'' Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207654 on 2013-02-02Geiger D.L. & Owen B. (2012) Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. viii + 361 pp. (29 February 2012)

Description

The size of the shell varies between 22 mm and 70 mm. It is shiny and the colour varies from something like mother of pearl to pink to red to gray to blue.

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and in the Indo-West Pacific, off

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and in the Mascarene Basin. It further occurs in the Western Pacific, from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

and off Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

) Records from East Africa and India are questionable according to Geiger & Poppe, 2000

References

* Röding, P.F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa.'' Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp. * Reeve, L.A. 1846. ''Descriptions of forty species of Haliotis, from the collection of H. Cumming, Esq.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 14: 53-59 * Dunker, W. 1863. ''Novitates Conchologicae. Mollusca Marina. Beschreibung und Abbildung neuer oder wenig gekannter Meeres-Conchylien.'' Cassel : T. Fischer pp. 43–58, pls 13-18. * Pilsbry, H.A. 1890. ''Manual of Conchology''. Philadelphia : Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia Vol. 12 323 pp., 65 pls. * Iredale, T. 1929. ''Queensland molluscan notes, No. 1.'' Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 261-297, pls 30-31 * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp. * Hylleberg, J & Kilburn, R.N. 2003. ''Marine Molluscs of Vietnam: Annotations, voucher material , and species in need of verification.'' Phuket Marine Biological Center Special Publication 28: 1-299

External links

Barcode of Life (1 barcode)

Biodiversity Heritage Library (55 publications)

Encyclopedia of Life

GenBank (22 nucleotides; 15 proteins)

World Register of Marine Species
* varia Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Haliotidae-stub