Haliotis pourtalesii, common name Pourtale’s abalone, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of rare deepwater sea snail

Sea snail

Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....

, a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone

Abalone

Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...

s.

Distribution

The known distribution for Haliotis pourtalesii reported in the literature puts it in a range that extends from the coast of North Carolina - Florida United States of America through the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, the Caribbean Region (Colombia, Venezuela and Suriname), West Indies to the shores of Brazil. Having collected in a bathymetric range located between 25 and 230 meters depth usually on hard substrates.

Description

The shell is relatively small, varying from 18 mm to a maximum length of 30 mm. It has twenty-two to twenty-seven wavy, spiral cords. Out side waxy yellow to light- brown with a few irregular patches of reddish orange. A light-orange band runs from each hole to the edge of the shell. The inside is pearly –white . Beware of young specimens from other oceans labeled as this species.

Subspecies

• Haliotis pourtalesii aurantium
  Haliotis pourtalesii aurantium
  Haliotis pourtalesii aurantium is a subspecies of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. This is a Western Atlantic species....
  
  Simone, 1998
• Haliotis pourtalesii pourtalesii Dall, 1881

External links

• Gastropods.com: Haliotis (Haliotis) pourtalesii; accessed : 6 September 2011
• Malacolog info on this species at http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=265

Videos

• Youtube: Seaweeds & invertebrates of the SE Gulf of Mexico, Pt. 3 (Haliotis pourtalesii)