Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The genus consists of small to very large, edible, herbivorous sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs. The number of species recognized worldwide ranges between 30 [3] and 130, [4] with over 230 species-level taxa described. The most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 species valid, with 18 additional subspecies. [5]
Haliotis cracherodii, the black abalone, is a species of large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone. [3]This species is relatively small compared with most of the other abalone species from the eastern Pacific, and it has a relatively smooth dark shell.
Living abalone in tank showing epipodium and tentacles, anterior end to the right. Abalone (/ ˈ æ b ə l oʊ n i / ⓘ or / ˌ æ b ə ˈ l oʊ n i /; via Spanish abulón, from Rumsen aulón) is a common name for any small to very large marine gastropod mollusc in the family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now contains only one genus, Haliotis. [1]
Bivalve molluscs are used as bioindicators to monitor the health of aquatic environments in both fresh water and the marine environments. Their population status and structure, physiology, behaviour and their levels of contamination with chemicals together provide a detailed indication of the status of the ecosystem.
Like other clam species, A. islandia is a filter feeder.Feeding activity appears regulated by light levels, which can be used as a proxy for food availability. This means that at the northern extreme of the distribution, feeding is concentrated during eight months of the year, while during the rest of the year the clams only feed for a few days a month.
Marine gastropods include some that are herbivores, detritus feeders, predatory carnivores, scavengers, parasites, and also a few ciliary feeders, in which the radula is reduced or absent. Land-dwelling species can chew up leaves, bark, fruit, fungi, and decomposing animals while marine species can scrape algae off the rocks on the seafloor.
Species in the family Pleurobranchidae have a prominent mantle and an internal shell that becomes reduced or is lost completely in adults. [3] Some adult species have been seen feeding on ascidians.
Nudibranch molluscs are the most commonly cited examples of aposematism in marine ecosystems, but the evidence for this has been contested, [21] mostly because few examples of mimicry are seen among species, many species are nocturnal or cryptic, and bright colours at the red end of the spectrum are rapidly attenuated as a function of water depth.