Abalone (from Spanish Abulón ) are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails , marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis . 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 pāua 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.
The flesh (the adductor muscle) of abalones is widely considered to be a desirable food. |
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The shell of abalones has a convex, rounded to oval shape, and the shell may be highly arched or very flattened. The shell is ear shaped with with two to three whorls. The last one aeriform such that the shell resembles an "ear", giving rise to the common name ‘ear-shell'. The body whorl has a series of holes—four to ten depending on the species—near the anterior margin, for the escape of water from the gills. There is no operculum .
The color of the shell is very variable from species to species. The iridescent nacre that lines the inside of the shell varies in color from silvery white, to pink, red and green-red, through to Haliotis iris , which shows predominantly deep blues, greens and purples.
These snails cling solidly with their broad muscular foot to rocky surfaces at sublittoral depths, although some species such as Haliotis cracherodii used to be common in the intertidal zone . Abalones reach maturity at a relatively small size. Their fecundity is high and increases with their size (from 10,000 to 11 million eggs at a time).
The larvae are lecithotrophic or feed off a yolk sac. The adults are herbivorous and feed with their rhipidoglossan radula on macroalgae, preferring red or brown algae. Sizes vary from 20 mm ( Haliotis pulcherrima ) to 200 mm (or even more) ( Haliotis rufescens ). They also have a series of small holes on top of the shell through which sex products and waste are expelled. |
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HANDICRAFT COLLECTION :
1. BALLS UNIQUE HANDICRAFT
2. BLICAR SHELL UNIQUE HANDICRAFT
3. CINNAMON
4. COCONUT SHELL
5. MOTHER OF PEARL UNIQUE SHELL
6. PAWA SHELL
7. MOP AND BLACK SHELL
8. RED CORRAL SHELL
9. WEDUNG SHELL |
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Nacre , also known as mother of pearl , is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent . For more information on shell structure see: Mollusc shell .
This substance is called "mother of pearl" because it is literally the "mother", or creator, of true pearls .
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Nacre is found in certain ancient lineages of bivalves , gastropods and cephalopods . However, the inner-shell layer in the great majority of shelled mollusks is porcellaneous and non-nacreous, frequently resulting in a non-iridescent shine like that of a porcelain plate or, in some species, presenting non-nacreous iridescent effects such as 'flame structure' (e.g. conch pearl).
Pearls and the inside layer of pearl oyster shells and freshwater pearl mussel shells are made of nacre. Many other families of mollusks also have an inner shell layer which is nacreous, including marine gastropods such as the Haliotidae , the Trochidae and the Turbinidae .
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diambil dari: wikipedia.com
HANDICRAFT COLLECTION :
1. BALLS UNIQUE HANDICRAFT
2. BLICAR SHELL UNIQUE HANDICRAFT
3. CINNAMON
4. COCONUT SHELL
5. MOTHER OF PEARL UNIQUE SHELL
6. PAWA SHELL
7. MOP AND BLACK SHELL
8. RED CORRAL SHELL
9. WEDUNG SHELL |
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