Abalone  - 01/09/2006 Hi Bob, been reading up on your Abalone articles. you know a fair bit, may I ask you a few questions. <Sure> I live in South Australia. <Brrrrr! But beautiful. Have been to Tasy> I have the opportunity to sell abs from an on land farmer. <Mmm, there is a parallel of sorts here with some fine folks that raise the Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis... hard to make a market (currently, and into the near-seeable future) for such cool-coldwater organisms in the ornamental trade> I was thinking that the aquarium industry would be a good one to get stuck into. Live abs 10 cm up to 70cm. <Is a wonderful field, area...> It seems many have problems in keeping them alive. Water temp seems to be a problem and the worms that abs carry can be a negative apart from other things I have read <Yes... mainly the former... cool water Haliotids don't adapt well to tropical settings, and the vast majority (more than 99 percent) of systems, market are tropical... Couple this with the distance to travel to and through marine livestock wholesale markets, their present resistance to coldwater stocking...> What are your thoughts on this, is this idea worth pursuing or will it not be accepted by the retailers. Has it been tried yet. <Has been tried off and on... I would pursue other markets, or more warm-water organisms if you could... Is there a possibility of culturing tropical Haliotids perhaps? Maybe some other mollusks, groups of organisms at this facility? Bob Fenner> Kind regards Gary Scholz

Haliotid shells... origins   12/29/05 Hi, I am wondering if you can tell me where most abalone shells come from? <Most are a "by-catch" of the food industry> Do they ever wash up on the shore or are they always harvested from the ocean, the animal killed, and the shell discarded?   <Almost entirely the latter> Where can I get more information? <There are abalone industry bulletins... incidental government periodicals on the family, its fishery, biology. Am sure you are familiar with computer-search bibliographies, the odiousness of searching non-scientific literature. Cheers, Bob Fenner>   Thanks.   Jeffrey Masson, Ph.D. Auckland, New Zealand Dead abalone? 8/25/05 Hi, <Hello> I think my abalone might have died.  He is not sticking to anything, I  keep placing him back on a rock, <No need> but every morning I find him upside-down, I  think snail are knocking him off the rock. <Ah, no... can't do> I am not sure why he died. <Most likely some aspects of water quality... temperature... > Should I remove him from the tank? Or keep him there as part of the food-chain? <if the system is "large enough", well-filtered, circulated, I would leave the shell, body be...> Thanks in advance. Christy <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/abalones.htm and the linked FAQs above... in the hope that others experiences will aid you in discovering yours... Bob Fenner>

Abalone Snail My Abalone Snail has not moved in several days. He is on the back glass where algae is. Is this normal?  <They do just lay around one in a while and I would not be worried.  Cody>

Re: Clean up crew Why an abalone? They are very expensive. I purchased one and have been reading up on them, but I was just wondering why you suggested this animal. <they are AMAZING and incomparable herbivores once established>

Large Abalone Dear Mister Fenner <Hello> My name is Steve Zemp and I'm involved in a small company in Switzerland (Europe), that produces Fishing Lures out of Abalone Shells, since 1945. <Neat! I have had friends, acquaintances over the years who fashioned Haliotid shells into jewelry, hair-clips...> We are interested to buy large, empty - uncleaned Haliotis rufescens Shells or other Abalone Shells for our Lure production. The problem is, that we need to get large Abalone Shells that are 5 inches or more in size. The Shell outside should be red or orange/brown colored, like for example: <Oh yes... I used to sell these to friends Marty Beals and Dennis Mok at Tideline (they are still in business in Los Angeles, have you contacted them?)> -HALIOTIS - RUFESCENS (Red abalone) -HALIOTIS - GIGANTEA (Japanese Abalone) -HALIOTIS - KAMTSCHATKANA (Pinto abalone) -HALIOTIS - CORRUGATA (Pink abalone) -HALIOTIS - ASSIMILIS (Threaded abalone) -HALIOTIS - WALLALENSIS (Flat abalone) The smaller Shells are not suitable for our Fishing Lures, because they get to thin, after sanding and polishing them. If you could help us to buy one or more of these large Haliotidae Shells, we would be pleased to get an offer from you. Thank you very much for your efforts and looking forward to your answer. Best regards from Switzerland Steve Zemp Company: Interfish - Pfaeffikon (SZ) AG Street: Kantonsstrasse 42 Zip: CH-8807 City: Freienbach State: Switzerland (Europe) Airport: Zurich Fax 0041 55 410 36 76 E-mail steffen.zemp@csam.com <Do contact Tideline, 640 S. Isis, Inglewood, CA 90301, 310-641-9106, fax 310-649-1131 they carry these shells, cleaned... and can ship them to you. Otherwise, I will post your request on our root web: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ to help you locate other sources. Bob Fenner>

Re: large Abalone Dear Robert Does your friends from "Tideline" also have a E-mail address? Please let me know. <Unfortunately not that I know of. Please do fax or make a call to them during PST on the west coast of the U.S., and ask for Marty, Dennis or Robin and mention my name> Thank you very much for your efforts. Best regards Steve Zemp INTERFISH PFAEFFIKON (SZ) AG <Bob Fenner>

Re: large Abalone Dear Robert Thank you very much for your answer. I will contact "Marty Beals and Dennis Mok Tideline, 640 S. Isis", Inglewood, CA 90301, 310-641-9106, Fax 310-649-1131, by Fax and ask them, if they could help us to get the Shells, that we are looking for. Thank you very much for all your efforts and have a nice day. Best regards from Switzerland to you Steve Zemp INTERFISH PFAEFFIKON (SZ) AG <You are welcome my friend. I will keep my eyes open... There are "stashes" of these shells here and there that I occasionally run into. Bob Fenner>

Abalone (to eat) in Singapore I saw your page about ABALONE on the internet and thought that you might be interested to visit our URL at: http://www.singnet.com.sg/~palomino/ or: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~palomino/ which is about ABALONE too. I hope you like our site. You may want to list us with a link on your links page. If so, the details are: Palomino Delectables -- GOURMET ABALONE delivered to your doorstep!! Palomino Delectables delivers worldwide by air-courier, gourmet ABALONE in consumer-friendly quantities, already cooked and hermetically packed. Gourmet abalone, abalone shells, abalone RECIPES and full-color photographs available at: http://www.singnet.com.sg/~palomino/ If you decide to link us, please let me have the URL of the exact page on which our link appears. Would appreciate your comments about our site. Best regards Palo Mino Palomino Delectables Singapore <Hmm, very nice... will add your link to the Abalone article bibliography. Bob Fenner in transit in Indonesia on the way back to Singapore for the Aquarama trade show there this weekend>

Abalone, sys. fdg. I read your article on WetWebMedia on abalone, and have a few questions for you if you don't mind answering them. <I'll try> -I bought mine at the market, and it doesn't look like its doing so good. It won't stick onto anything, it really doesn't move, but I know that its alive because I see very little movement if I take it out of the water or touch it. What do you think is wrong? <Might be on its way out... these Archaeogastropoda die slowly... It should attach itself on its own... Is this a tropical species? Do you have it in a "normal" temperature range?... It might have gotten jabbed well enough to "leak" osmotically... Many other possibilities. Is this a coldwater species? Not suitable for tropical waters if so.> -are they safe for reef systems? <Yes... about as "safe" as anything.> Yours truly, Paul PS I heard they eat coralline algae. <Not really... mostly "leafy" greens, red and brown algae... Depends on species to some extent... take a look through the Net using the common name, the family (Haliotidae) and the words "culture", "husbandry"... Bob Fenner>

Re: abalone It died this morning. I think it might have been punctured when taken out of the taken. How hardy are they to water conditions? <Hmm, "not very"... most take a beating in the process/es of culture, shipping, re-shipping... to the "end-user"... and die consequently in a short period of time in/on arrival... Many people are unaware of their simpler biology (they're macrophagous herbivores... don't eat encrusting Rhodophytes/Red Algae, are mostly cool water species...). Pays to investigate before purchasing any livestock... unfortunately there's just too much to know, relate for any given "vendor relationship" to provide sufficient help... Be chatting, Bob Fenner>

Re: abalone Is it possible though that these species can exist in a warm water reef tank at all, or most likely will they die? Paul <Look on the Net for the diversity of the group... there are tropical Haliotids... but most of the ones sold are cultured cool/cold water species that rarely live for long. Bob Fenner>