How do Abalone reproduce?

[keithlnichols]

How does an Abalone reproduce? Does it lay eggs or bare live yong? I have a 3inch long, inch & a half wide abalone. It has been in my 75G tank for abou 5 weeks now. Its very shy & only shows its self when the lighting is in dusk/dawn mode or off. Its surpriseingly fast when it wants, and glides along on its foot, reminding me of a centipede/snake. Well about two weeks ago I observed via flash light the abalone moving along grazeing on algae, randomly releasing small dark pellet like beads from one of the holes along the one side of its shell. (The third or fourth one I think?) At the time I thaught it was just the way it expelled waste, but now I have small finger nail sized abalone cruzing around my tank. (The short time period between me seeing the pellets released and now seeing offspring is what makes me wonder about the live young but doubt it, eggs are more likely.) Does anyone else have any expierance with these critters as I have several now & want & need to provide for them if need be....

 

[pagojoe]

Well, they are all broadcast spawners as far as I know, which is why a sufficiently-reduced population density in the eastern Pacific species can cause a whole colony to disappear. I'm not sure if this applies to Haliotis asinina, which is what yours sounds like, but I suspect it might. Abalone larvae have a pelagic period, where the larvae float in the water column, ranging from about three days to over a couple of weeks. Three days isn't very long, comparatively, so it's conceivable that you could end up with baby abalones in your tank. It's more likely that you have Stomatellas, however. If yours are actually baby abalones, they'll have holes in the shells similar to the adults. If the shell is shaped like your H. asinina but missing the holes, it'll be a Stomatella.

Cheers,



Don

 

[lil urchin]

so you have only the one abalone in the tank? they don't need two to reproduce?

 

[pagojoe]

old thread, but..yes

 

[Calappidae]

Don't they eat algae? I'm not to familiar with them as far as care requirements. Cool looking tho.