The blood-spotted abalone (''Haliotis spadicea'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family

Haliotidae ''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, ...

, the abalones. This species is common on

rocky shore A rocky shore is an intertidal area of seacoasts where solid rock predominates. Rocky shores are biologically rich environments, and are a useful "natural laboratory" for studying intertidal ecology and other biological processes. Due to their ...

s on the coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

.Bouchet, P. (2012). Haliotis spadicea Donovan, 1808. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207658 on 2012-03-09

Shell description

The exterior of the

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

of this species is reddish-purple in color, often with some white blotches. The shell has between 5 and 8 open respiratory pores along the margin. These holes collectively make up what is known as the

selenizone A selenizone (from the Greek "selene" meaning "moon", and "zone" meaning "girdle") is an anatomical structure that exists in the shells of some families of living sea snails: the slit shells, the little slit shells and the abalones, which are ...

which form as the shell grows. The snail shell grows to approximately in length. "The depressed shell has an oblong-ovate shape, narrowed toward the anterior end. The distance of the apex from the margin is contained 7 or 8 times in the length of the shell. The spiral striae, when visible, are very indistinct but contain radiating, coarse, oblique folds. The left margin is regularly arcuate, the right one straightened, a little concave along the middle part of the outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

. The shell is solid but rather thin, dark reddish-brown, variegated with blotches of snowy white, especially in the young. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

is often of a peculiar bronze red. The surface contains a few impressed spiral striae, often scarcely visible, and low, very irregular undulations or radiating folds. These, too, are often subobsolete. The shell is not strongly carinated at the position of the row of perforations in adults. And there are several rather strong cords revolving parallel with the holes, between them and the columellar margin. The low spire is composed of about three

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s. The inner surface is brilliantly pearly. The columellar plate is narrow. Its edge is rounded, convex, sloping outward, and obliquely truncated below. The cavity of the spire is visible from below. It is rather deep, usually of a beautiful red-bronze color inside." "The more prominent characters are the peculiar form, narrowed at the anterior end, the reddish or chocolate surface, smooth except for radiating folds, and the coppery red stain within the cavity of the spire. This last feature is sometimes absent. The perforations are numerous, close together and almost perfectly circular. The columellar shelf or plate slopes outward, is rather narrow and convex on its face. The shell when placed upon a plane surface, rests upon its two extremities, both lips being arched. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

is nearer to the margin than in ''

Haliotis midae ''Haliotis midae'', known commonly as the South African abalone or the perlemoen abalone, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. Subspecies * ''Haliotis midae volcanius'' Pata ...

'', another Cape species, with which this one agrees in lacking spiral striation."

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off South Africa.

Human use

The meat of this abalone is edible, and has been consumed by people living along the coast in the past, although abalone fishing is now banned in South Africa.

References

* Hanley, Young Conchologists' Book of Species, p. 60, frontispiece f. 5 (1841). * Menke, Zeitschr. f. Mal. 1845, p. 97 * Geiger D.L. & Owen B. (2012) ''Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae''. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. viii + 361 pp.

9 February 2012 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

page(s): 126

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3643353 spadicea Gastropods described in 1808 Fauna of South Africa