CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Do abalone grow in the sea?

yes

Abalone is a very valuable seafood. It is not a fish, but a single-shell mollusk that crawls on rocks below the low tide line in shallow seas.

The abalone's body is covered with a thick calcareous shell. Its shell is a right-handed spiral shell that looks like an ear. Its Latin name can be literally translated as "sea ear" because its shell looks like an ear. In addition, the abalone shell has a series of spiral protrusions that gradually increase from the top of the shell to the ventral side. Some of these protrusions near the end of the whorl are penetrated into holes, and the number of holes varies with different species. The large abalone distributed in northern my country has 4-5 holes, and the variegated abalone distributed in the south has 7-9 holes. In ancient my country, abalone was named "nine-hole snail" because of this feature.

The head of the abalone is well-developed, and its two tentacles are very thin and long when stretched out. There is a short protrusion on the dorsal side of the base of the tentacles, and the eyes grow at the end of the protrusions. There is a head lobe between the two tentacles, and there is a proboscis on the ventral side of the head lobe, and there is a sun at the front end of the proboscis. There is a powerful radula inside the mouth. The radula is a unique organ of many shellfish. It is a chitinous belt with many rows of small teeth on it. The shape is very similar to a file. Shellfish use these small teeth to scrape and grind food. Generally speaking, herbivorous species have more small teeth with round tips, while carnivorous species have fewer small teeth, but they are powerful, and often have hooks or thorns at the tip. Abalone is a herbivorous species, so the number of small teeth on its radula belt is extremely large.

The abalone's foot is particularly thick and is divided into two parts. The upper foot has many tentacles and hillocks to sense the outside world; the lower foot is oval when stretched, with a flat belly, suitable for attachment and crawling. We eat abalone mainly for its foot muscles.

The mantle of the abalone is the same shape as the shell, covering the back of the body. Unlike other snails, there is a crack on the right side of the abalone's mantle. The position of this crack is equivalent to the position of the hole on the edge of the shell. Tentacles grow on the edge of the crack. When the abalone moves, these tentacles extend from the shell hole, playing a role in the sense of smell. The crack on the edge of the mantle is a characteristic of primitive gastropods, such as the seam snail, the famous red Wengrong and the keyhole snail.

Abalones live in rocky reefs with fast-flowing water and lush seaweed. They like to live in coastal islands or rocky corners protruding from the coast. Abalones often crawl in cracks or caves in rocky reefs. The depth of their distribution varies with species. For example, the large abalone in northern my country is generally distributed in water depths of more than ten meters. In winter, they move to deeper waters to avoid the cold, and the depth can reach 30 meters. In spring, they slowly move up, and some can live several meters below the tide line. Small abalone can even be found near the low tide line.

Abalone likes to hide during the day and come out at night. Abalone kept in a pond usually stays dormant during the day and slowly moves as soon as it gets dark. They are most active after 10 o'clock and before 3 o'clock in the evening. At that time, their heads and feet are fully stretched, and the tentacles on the cracks of the mantle extend from the shell holes and crawl on the bottom or wall of the pond. They can crawl up to 50 centimeters per minute. Abalone also has the habit of returning to their nests. They often like to live in caves, go out to forage at night, and return to the caves to live when it is almost dawn.

Abalone likes to eat brown algae or red algae. For example, the big abalone likes to eat kelp, young kelp and Sargassum. Abalone raised in a pond can eat dozens of grams of small kelp every day. The amount of food eaten by abalone varies with the season. Generally, they eat more in the season with higher water temperature, and they are not very active in winter and eat less. When people throw kelp into the abalone pond, although the abalone's head shrinks in the shell, it can quickly find the direction of food and crawl towards the kelp with its sensitive sense of smell. When the food is still some distance away from its body, it can extend the two leaves at the front of its lower foot, pull the food to the edge of its mouth in an embracing posture, and extend its disc-shaped snout to lick it with its radula. The kelp eaten by them often leaves large round holes with tooth patterns on the edges.

The reproduction of abalone is different from that of other snails. Most snails reproduce by mating, and they secrete membrane or gelatinous substances to cover the eggs when laying eggs, and lay them individually or in groups. Abalone is dioecious, but it does not mate. In the breeding season, after the male and female gonads mature, they will release sperm and eggs into the seawater outside the body respectively. When the eggs meet sperm in the seawater, they can be fertilized and develop. This reproduction method is very similar to that of bivalves. The gender of abalone is not easy to tell from the appearance. You must look at its gonads to determine. In the breeding season, the gonads are very developed. The female is dark green, while the male is light yellow. The spawning period of abalone varies with species and regions. In Qingdao, the big abalone generally reproduces in summer and autumn. After the eggs are fertilized, they pass through the planktonic trochophore larvae and the veliger larvae, and then sink to the bottom of the sea and metamorphose into young abalone. Abalones grow slowly, with a shell of about 2-3 cm in one year and a large one of 4-5 cm in two years. Abalones with shells over 10 cm take about six to seven years to grow.

There are many types of abalones, and they are widely distributed. Abalones can be found in almost all seas around the world. Abalones are also distributed along the coast of my country. In the north, Dalian and Changshan Badao produce more abalones, which are large and oval in shape. In the South China Sea, abalones and ear abalones are produced. Abalones and ear abalones are similar in shape to abalones, but are smaller in size. Ear abalones are longer in shape, and their shells are more like ears. The flesh of their feet is the thickest, and the shells cannot completely cover them.

Abalone meat is delicious, and people have loved eating it since ancient times. But its natural production is small and far from meeting demand, so people try to cultivate it. At present, a lot of work has been done on abalone cultivation in Japan. my country has also done some work in this regard and established certain conditions for abalone cultivation. In addition to eating fresh, abalone can also be processed into canned food and dried abalone. Its shell is called stone cassia, which is a commonly used Chinese medicine. In addition, abalone shells can also be used to make handicrafts.

Abalone has nothing to do with fish, but is related to snails. It is a single-shell mollusk in the ocean, with only half of its shell. The shell is hard, thick, flat and wide, and its shape is somewhat like a human ear, so it is also called sea ear. Only traces of the spiral part remain, which occupies a very small part of the whole shell. There are 9 holes on the edge of the shell, and seawater flows in and out from here. Even the breathing, excretion and reproduction of abalone depend on it. So it is also called 9-hole snail. The surface of the shell is rough with black-brown spots, and the inside presents a pearly luster with blue, green, red and blue colors. Fresh abalone is shelled and salted for a period of time, then cooked, the internal organs are removed, and dried into a dry product. It has delicious meat and rich nutrition. Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin and fish belly are all precious seafood, and abalone is listed first among sea cucumber, shark fin and fish belly. Abalone shell is a famous Chinese medicinal material - Shijueming, which is also called Qianliguang in ancient books. It has the effect of improving eyesight, hence the name. Shijueming also has the effects of clearing away heat, calming the liver and calming wind, and can treat dizziness and hand and foot cramps and convulsions caused by fever. There are about 90 species of abalone in the world, and their footprints are all over the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

There are many types of abalones, and they are widely distributed. Abalones can be found in almost all seas around the world. Abalones are also distributed along the coast of my country. In the north, Dalian and Changshan Badao produce more abalones, which are large and oval in shape. In the South China Sea, abalones and ear abalones are produced. Abalones and ear abalones are similar in shape to abalones, but are smaller in size. Ear abalones are longer in shape, and their shells are more like ears. The flesh of their feet is the thickest, and the shells cannot completely cover them.

The largest abalone production is in Shandong, Guangdong, Liaoning and other places, and the production period is spring and autumn. Abroad, Japan, North Korea, the United States, Mexico and Australia produce more abalone, and Australia mostly makes abalone into canned food. Imported goods are divided into purple abalone and white abalone. Purple abalone is better. Domestic abalone is generally called abalone or abalone jerky. The best quality is golden yellow and thick. Fresh abalone includes horseshoe abalone, chestnut abalone, pearl abalone, etc.

Yes, there are many types.

It's in the sea... but there are many varieties