CHAPTER LV: THE EAR SHELLS. ABALONES 



Family Haliotid^ 



Shell pearly, ear-shaped, shallow, spiral, with outer coil 

 very large, enclosing the body; aperture large, oval; operculum 

 wanting; left side of shell punctured by a curving row of holes; 

 muscle scar large, horse-shoe shaped; foot large, fleshy, fringed; 

 mantle slit along row of holes, tentacular gill filaments passing 

 out at each hole; tentacles two, long; eyes two, on short stalks. 

 Habitat, rocky shores. Distribution: California, Japan, Indian 

 Ocean, Africa, Australia and adjacent islands. One species in 

 European waters. 



The large shells furnish mother-of-pearl of commerce; foot 

 edible; dried and used for food in the Orient. A single genus of 

 many species. 



Genus HALIOTIS, Linn. 



"Where is the other half?" you inquire, when first introduced 

 to the abalone shell. 



"There is none. It is not a bivalve shell, like the clam's, 

 but a univalve, like the snail's," is the reply. 



"Then how does the animal manage to keep its body in this 

 inverted saucer?" 



"That great scar in the middle of the saucer is the place 

 where the body grows fast to the shell. Then there is considerable 

 support given by the inturning rim on the left side, and under the 

 coil." 



"How do you know which is the left side?" 



"The living mollusk thrusts his head out under the edge of 

 the shell just where the row of holes ends. A pair of long ten- 

 tacles, two eyes on short stalks and a central broad snout are the 

 five prominent features. The tip of the broad foot is pointed 

 backward, from under the spiral. All around outside of the 

 edge of the shell is the fleshy, fringed margin of the mantle. The 



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