- Common name
- Abalone
- Scientific name
- Haliotis spp.
- Category
- Marine snail or mollusc
- Group
- Abalone group guide
- Environment
- Marine aquarium; exact species and temperature regime required
- Origin
- Rocky tropical, subtropical and temperate coasts worldwide; exact range is species-specific
- Care level
- Advanced specialist group guide
- Adult size
- Roughly 2–30+ cm shell length across the genus
- Expected lifespan
- Species-specific; many abalones are long-lived and some exceed 20–30 years
- Minimum housing
- Unknown until the species, adult size and temperature regime are confirmed; large temperate species require purpose-built chilled, high-flow housing
- Temperature
- Species-specific; temperate species may require roughly 10–20 °C, while tropical species require warmer water
- pH
- 8.0–8.4 with minimal daily variation
- Hardness / minerals
- Alkalinity 7–11 dKH; calcium about 380–450 mg/L; magnesium about 1,200–1,400 mg/L, kept stable
- Salinity
- Full-strength marine salinity, usually about 32–35 ppt (specific gravity roughly 1.024–1.026), kept stable
- Lighting
- Enough light to support suitable algal growth without overheating the animal
- Placement / zone
- Broad stable rock surfaces with shaded refuges and secure attachment points
- Filtration
- Use oversized, temperature-appropriate marine biological filtration with strong solids capture and guarded intakes. The system must process heavy algal feeding waste without exposing the foot or mantle to suction.
- Aeration
- Maintain very high dissolved oxygen and gas exchange through broad circulation, surface movement and suitable life-support equipment. Chilled temperate systems still need vigorous oxygenation and backup aeration.
- Maintenance
- Check temperature, oxygen, salinity, attachment, righting ability and food access daily; remove decaying algae and faecal waste; clean prefilters; and inspect shell growth, mantle, foot and rock stability.
Identity and search names
Group guide. Exact species identity is required before temperature, size, housing, conservation or fishery rules can be applied.
Search names: ear shells, haliotids
Environment and housing
A mature, high-oxygen marine system matched to the identified species, with broad rock area, strong attachment surfaces and abundant appropriate algae
Social structure: Usually solitary or stocked only where space, food and temperature are demonstrably suitable
Feeding and nutrition
Feeding ecology: Species-appropriate macroalgae, attached algae and biofilm; juveniles and adults can have different food requirements
Feeding routine: Maintain continuous access to suitable algal food and monitor actual grazing and body condition
Breeding, reproduction or spread
Separate sexes and broadcast spawning are common; larval culture and settlement are specialist aquaculture work
Parental care: None after gamete release
Detailed care and app-ready planning
- Identity scope
- Group guide. Exact species identity is required before temperature, size, housing, conservation or fishery rules can be applied.
- Adult size and space
- Expected adult size: Roughly 2–30+ cm shell length across the genus. Permanent housing: Unknown until the species, adult size and temperature regime are confirmed; large temperate species require purpose-built chilled, high-flow housing Sale size is not an adult-space standard.
- Social structure
- Usually solitary or stocked only where space, food and temperature are demonstrably suitable
- Swimming zone or placement
- Rock surfaces, crevices and tank walls; abalone crawl and graze rather than swim, and require broad secure attachment surfaces with accessible shaded refuge.
- Occupied zone
- Rock surfaces and crevices
- Feeding ecology
- Species-appropriate macroalgae, attached algae and biofilm; juveniles and adults can have different food requirements
- Feeding plan
- Maintain continuous access to suitable algal food and monitor actual grazing and body condition
- Water stability
- Maintain Species-specific; temperate species may require roughly 10–20 °C, while tropical species require warmer water; pH 8.0–8.4 with minimal daily variation; Alkalinity 7–11 dKH; calcium about 380–450 mg/L; magnesium about 1,200–1,400 mg/L, kept stable; and Full-strength marine salinity, usually about 32–35 ppt (specific gravity roughly 1.024–1.026), kept stable. Correct measured causes gradually and avoid abrupt salinity or temperature changes.
- Habitat structure
- A mature, high-oxygen marine system matched to the identified species, with broad rock area, strong attachment surfaces and abundant appropriate algae
- Compatibility plan
- Avoid predators, unstable rockwork, exposed pumps and systems unable to maintain the correct temperature or food supply
- Breeding or reproduction plan
- Separate sexes and broadcast spawning are common; larval culture and settlement are specialist aquaculture work
- Quarantine
- Quarantine where practical in a stable separate marine system. Inspect the foot, mantle, shell, operculum, feeding response and hitchhikers; avoid copper contamination and sudden salinity change.
- Welfare checks
- Check grip strength, foot condition, shell erosion, feeding tracks, respiration and repeated falls. Never prise a strongly attached animal from rock.
- Biosecurity and release
- Use only legally sourced, correctly identified stock. Quarantine new molluscs and attached material in a stable separate marine system where practical. Never release animals, eggs, larvae, aquarium water, sediment, shells, rock, algae or viable fragments into drains, beaches, estuaries or the sea. Live invertebrates and their reproductive material require current Australian import-pathway and permit checks, and movement can spread mollusc diseases and hitchhikers.
- Main risk
- A common name is not enough. Wrong temperature, starvation, illegal collection, rough removal and disease movement can rapidly kill abalone or harm wild stocks.
- Adult projected load
- Projected load varies greatly by identified species and adult shell size. Large abalone produce substantial faecal and uneaten-algae load, consume broad grazing area and demand cold, oxygen-rich water, so life support must be sized for the verified adult species rather than a juvenile shell.
- Filtration
- Use oversized, temperature-appropriate marine biological filtration with strong solids capture and guarded intakes. The system must process heavy algal feeding waste without exposing the foot or mantle to suction.
- Aeration
- Maintain very high dissolved oxygen and gas exchange through broad circulation, surface movement and suitable life-support equipment. Chilled temperate systems still need vigorous oxygenation and backup aeration.
- Maintenance
- Check temperature, oxygen, salinity, attachment, righting ability and food access daily; remove decaying algae and faecal waste; clean prefilters; and inspect shell growth, mantle, foot and rock stability.
- Overridable warnings
- Non-overridable: do not keep an unidentified abalone in an unverified temperature regime, allow oxygen decline, pry an attached animal by force or use illegally collected stock. A specialist may use different life-support equipment only when species identity, legal provenance, temperature, oxygen, food capacity and adult space are all documented.
- Shell and minerals
- Maintain stable salinity, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. Investigate shell erosion, stalled growth, damaged mantle tissue or loss of attachment.
- Righting and entrapment
- Check overturned or trapped animals daily. Protect pump intakes, overflow teeth and unstable rock gaps; right only by supporting the shell without tearing the foot.
- Predation risk
- Wrasses, puffers, triggers, large crabs, mantis shrimps and predatory snails can injure or consume marine gastropods.
- Food capacity
- Stock to measured natural-food and supplemental-food capacity, not a fixed “clean-up crew per litre” formula.
- Reef safety
- species-specific; exact identity and diet control the risk.
Compatibility, welfare and risk
Compatibility: Avoid predators, unstable rockwork, exposed pumps and systems unable to maintain the correct temperature or food supply
Welfare: Check grip strength, foot condition, shell erosion, feeding tracks, respiration and repeated falls. Never prise a strongly attached animal from rock.
Main warning: A common name is not enough. Wrong temperature, starvation, illegal collection, rough removal and disease movement can rapidly kill abalone or harm wild stocks.
Biosecurity and release
Use only legally sourced, correctly identified stock. Quarantine new molluscs and attached material in a stable separate marine system where practical. Never release animals, eggs, larvae, aquarium water, sediment, shells, rock, algae or viable fragments into drains, beaches, estuaries or the sea. Live invertebrates and their reproductive material require current Australian import-pathway and permit checks, and movement can spread mollusc diseases and hitchhikers.