Species ID on this Abalone?

[Dyelon]

I have this Abalone that I recently picked up at my LFS and was wondering what species it was. I was told it was Haliotis asinina but after looking into it I'm not totally sure that was correct.

 

[pagojoe]

It's not H. asinina. In fact, I can tell you a lot of species that it's NOT, but it's hard for me to put a name on it. It has the shape and sculpture of H. varia, but I've never seen a black one. H. dissona can look like that, but it has a very limited range (mostly Tonga) and is considered rare. Same goes for H. fatui. H. dohrniana is somewhat more common, but it would be a rare find under normal circumstances, and I've never seen a black example of that, either. Where are you located, and do you know where it supposedly originated? If you're in Australia, all bets are off

You can try to match it to one of the species here. Note the sculpture, how elongated the shell is, and how many holes are unfilled:

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/TN_Family_HALIOTIDAE.shtml

The most likely common candidate is probably Haliotis varia, even though it would be an odd specimen.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Dyelon]

Thanks for the reply,
I'm located in the North Eastern United States and I do believe the store I picked it up from orders from Segrest farm in Florida, but I'm not positive. Not sure if this changes anything but thanks again.
-Dylan

 

[Dyelon]

After getting a closer look and comparing it to the ID sheet it does seem to be H. varia. Do you know any other defining characteristics of this species that would support that? It seems to have 7 maybe 8 open holes. It also has a patchy grey and white flesh from what I can see. Anymore information would be great. Thanks again,
-Dylan

 

[pagojoe]

Well, the thing about Haliotis varia is that it's....variable, thus the name. It's one of the three most common species across the Indo-Pacific, so that makes it a likely candidate. I'd probably go with that. The other two common species are H. asinina and H. ovata, and it's neither of those. It's almost certainly not one of the Atlantic species, since it would have to be either imported from the other side of the pond (not likely) or dredged out of really deep water (even less likely).

Cheers,



Don