Squamose abalone

Description

Haliotis squamosa, common name the squamose abalone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. The size of the shell varies between 40 mm and 90 mm. "The shell has an oblong-ovate shape, transversely obliquely wrinkled and spirally tubularly ribbed. The tubercles are scale-like. The ribs are sometimes close, sometimes with a fine ridge running between them. The seven, open perforations are rather large. The exterior is spotted and variegated with yellow and orange-brown. The interior surface is whitish and iridescent. This is an extremely interesting species, well characterized by its close ribs of scale-like tubercles, ranging across the shell in oblique waves. In the middle portion of the shell there is a fine ridge running between the ribs. The color is also peculiar, a kind of burnt-umberstained orange." This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off southern Madagascar. Gray erroneously described the species to occur off Australia. Haliotis, common name abalone, is the only genus in the family Haliotidae. This genus once contained six subgenera. These subgenera have become alternate representations of Haliotis. The genus consists of small to very large, edible, herbivorous sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs. The number of species recognized worldwide ranges between 30 and 130, with over 230 species-level taxa described. The most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 species valid, with 18 additional subspecies. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or muttonshells in parts of Australia, ormer in the UK, perlemoen in South Africa, and the Maori name for three species in New Zealand is pāua. The shells of abalones have a low, open, spiral structure, and are characterized by having several open respiratory pores in a row near the shell's outer edge. The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre, which in many species of abalone is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong, changeable colors, which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, in jewelry, and as a source of colorful mother-of-pearl. The shell of abalones is convex, rounded to oval shape, and may be highly arched or very flattened. The shell of the majority of species is ear-shaped, presenting a small, flat spire and two to three whorls.