Status Review Report for Black Abalone (Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814)

摘要

The black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii Leach, 1814) is a relatively large prosobranch gastropod mollusk ranging from approximately Pt. Arena in northern California, USA, to Bahia Tortugas and Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. Populations of black abalone on offshore Islands, especially those of southern California, were particularly large prior to the middle 1980s. Black abalone occur in rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats on exposed outer coasts, where they occur primarily in crevice microhabitats and feed preferentially on large drifting fragments of marine algae such as kelps. Black abalone reach a maximum size of about 200 mm (maximum diameter of the elliptical shell) but more typically reach sizes in the range of 100-140 mm. Maximum longevity is thought to be 20-30 years. Black abalone have separate sexes and are broadcast spawners. Lecithotrophic larvae are thought to be planktonic for 4-10 days before settlement and metamorphosis. Dispersal capability of larvae is limited, and genetic data indicate population structure on a spatial scale consistent with known dispersal characteristics. Black abalone shells are abundant in midden deposits left by Native American cultures in a number of locations, but especially in the Channel Islands of southern California, suggesting that black abalone served as a significant source of human nutrition among indigenous peoples along the coasts of California and Baja California in times past.