Abalone

Abalone (from Spanish Abulón)are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis. Family Haliotidae has no subfamilies. Common names for abalones also include ear-shells, sea-ears and Venus's-ears, as well as muttonfish or muttonshells in Australia, ormer in Jersey and Guernsey, perlemoen in South Africa and p ua in New Zealand.There is only the one genus in the family Haliotidae, and about four to seven subgenera. The number of species recognized worldwide is about 100.The shells of abalones have a low and open spiral structure, and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shell's outer edge. The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre or mother-of-pearl, which in many species is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong and changeable colors, which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, and as a source of colorful mother-of-pearl.... Mehr