THE “BUZZ” ON ABALONES
TWO RECENT “WORLD RECORD” AUSTRALIAN HALIOTIS SPECIMENS FROM THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT “BOB” KERSHAW OF NAROOMA, NEW SOUTH WALES (N.S.W.), AUSTRALIA.

Buzz Owen
P.O. Box 601
Gualala, California 95445
buzabman@mcn.org

INTRODUCTION

This segment of the occasional column that I write exploring world record Haliotis, will focus on two Australian species – one which is distributed in a small area of West Australia, and the other a species endemic to Victoria and New South Wales. Both shells reside in the collection of Robert “Bob” Kershaw, the impassioned die-hard Haliotis collector of Narooma, New South Wales, whose collection of Australian abalones is second to none – both in variety, and sheer volume of material!

This report will be the first of several which will explore the world record specimens of a number of Haliotis taxa in Bob’s collection. Future segments will cover H. roei Gray, 1826, H. rubra conicopora Leach, 1814, H. cyclobates Péron, 1816, H. scalaris scalaris Leach, 1814, plus a truly giant specimen of H. dalli Henderson, 1915, from the Galápagos Islands off Ecuador, to name but a few.

Haliotis coccoradiata Reeve, 1846: This small species is fairly common, and is currently known to be distributed along the coast of New South Wales, between Victoria and Queensland. Based upon my experience with this taxon, I would consider specimens over 50 mm quite large, and shells over 60 mm very large, and rather un-common. That being said, the new record, which measures 75 mm, is a giant shell indeed! That the previous record measured almost 20% smaller (65 mm), underscores this fact! The specimen was obtained at a shell auction, and apparently came from an old collection. Its locality data is unknown. Unlike most “world record” specimens, which are in rather poor condition, the shell is in a gem (or near gem) state, and is illustrated on Plate 1.(click here for plate 1)

Haliotis coccoradiata is an attractive species, and bears little resemblance to other Australian abalone. It is generally of a reddish to reddish-orange overall color, with very “blocky” whitish-cream markings scattered randomly about, often in the pattern of prosocline rays so common to many Australian Haliotis taxa. Occasional specimens will be of a greenish background color with the same blotchy markings. It usually has pronounced spiral ribbing of variable strength and width, and normally possesses 5-6 fairly round open holes. Occasional specimens will have areas of smoother sculpture, generally alternating with ribbed shell morphology. It can be separated from the much less common H. brazieri Angas, 1869, by its spire position, which lies closer to the posterior end of the shell, and by its more numerous and much less elevated open tremata – H. brazieri typically having 3-4 very elevated tremata, and a very smooth shell with no spiral ribbing. Haliotis brazieri form hargravesi Cox, 1869, has very wide and flat spiral ribs, which are not present in H. coccoradiata. These differences are well illustrated on Plates 2 and 3.(click here for plate 2)(click here for plate 3)

Haliotis elegans Philippi, 1844: Across the continent of Australia, in a small localized area near Perth, West Australia (W.A.), is found a truly bizarre-looking Haliotis, described by Philippi as H. elegans. Actually, it appears to have been described earlier by Gray in 1826, as Haliotis squamosa, a name that now represents a species endemic to Madagascar. This somewhat confusing situation is described in detail in Vol. 27, No. 3, of “Of Sea and Shore” (Owen, 2006). The species was considered quite uncommon to rare before about 1980 or so (R. R. Talmadge, and Katherine “Kit” Stewart, pers. comm.), and until fairly recently, live-taken specimens were unknown (R. Kershaw, pers. comm.). During the day, it appears to stay deeply hidden in crevices, and under coral, etc. The species has a spire positioned at the extreme posterior end of the shell, and extremely strong spiral ribbing with high ribs separated by deeply cut crevices. Frequently, adult specimens have a curious habit of discontinuing the development of tremata: this can lead to older specimens being almost imperforate! The only species it even distantly resembles, is H. squamosa from Madagascar, and it can easily be separated by the spire position (H. squamosa has the spire placed away from the posterior end of the shell, more towards the center) and by the absence of the numerous scabrous scales on the spiral ribs, which are one of the main diagnostic characters of H. squamosa. These differences are illustrated on Plate 3. It appears to have a very narrow distribution, thus far being known to occur between approximately Freemantle and Perth, West Australia. The world record specimen is truly a giant shell, being proportioned extremely wide as well. The species is normally quite narrow, as is illustrated on Plates 3 and 4.(click here for plate 4)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Steve Browning and Tom Grace for their helpful comments and editing suggestions. I also wish to give Tom credit for being first to note that Gray’s description of H. squamosa seemed more like a description of contemporary H. elegans! I want to thank Bob Kershaw for his excellent images of the World Record specimens of both H. elegans and H. coccoradiata, and several other photographs as well. Bob also provided the information on the distribution extremes of the two species.(click here for plate 5)

REFERENCES

Angas, G. F. 1869. Descriptions of Twelve New Species of Land and Marine Shells from Australia and the Solomon Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society 4:45-49, pl. 2.

Cox, J.C. 1869. On a New Species of Haliotis from New South Wales. Proceedings of the Zoological Society 4:49.

Dall, W. H. 1881. Preliminary Report on the Mollusca. In: Reports on the Results of Dredging, under the Supervision of Alexander Agassiz, in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, 1877-79, By the U.S. Coast Survey Steamer “Blake”. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 9: 33-144.

Geiger, D. L. and G. T. Poppe. 2000. Family Haliotidae. In: Poppe, G. T. and Groh, K. (Eds). A Conchological Iconography. Conchbooks, Hackenheim, Germany.135pp, 83pls.

Lamarck, J. B. 1822. Natural History of the Animals Without Vertebrae. T.6(2):1-232.

Leach, W. E. 1814. The Zoological Miscellany Vol. 1. McMillan, London, 144 pp.

Gray, J. E. Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coast of Australia Performed Between the Years 1818 and 1822 by Captain Phillip P. King. Vol. II, Appendix B: 474-496.

Owen, B. 2006. The “Buzz” on Abalones: The Rediscovery of Haliotis squamosa Gray, 1826 – the Real Story. Of Sea and Shore 27:3:164-169.

Philippi, R. A. 1842-1845. Illustrations and Descriptions of New and Little Known Shells. Theodor Fischer, Cassel, 484 pp.

Reeve, L. 1846. Monograph of the Genus Haliotis, 22 pp., 17 pls.