Haliotis rugosa

Haliotis rugosa, common name the many-holed abalone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone.^[2]

Haliotis rugosa
Image of a shell of Haliotis rugosa
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Lepetellida
Family:	Haliotidae
Genus:	Haliotis
Species:	H. rugosa
Binomial name
Haliotis rugosa Lamarck, 1822
Synonyms[2]
Haliotis alternata G.B. Sowerby II, 1882 Haliotis multiperforata Reeve, 1846 Haliotis nebulata Reeve, 1846 Haliotis pertusa Reeve, 1846 Haliotis revelata Deshayes, 1863

Haliotis rugosa Reeve, 1846 is a homonym of Haliotis tuberculata Linnaeus, 1758.

Subspecies

• Haliotis rugosa multiperforata Reeve, 1846
• Haliotis rugosa pustulata Reeve, 1846 (distribution: off Madagascar and the east coast of Africa, to the Red Sea and east to Yemen)
• Haliotis rugosa rodriguensis Owen, 2013 (distribution: Rodrigues Island, Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean)
• Haliotis rugosa rugosa Lamarck, 1822

Original drawing of a shell of Haliotis rugosa rugosa

Description

The size of the shell varies between 30 mm and 70 mm. The shells are oblong, barely arched, and slightly convex. They sport many colours in irregular bands or splotches along the outside of the shell, colours include: lime-green, bright white, and purple-maroon brown.^[3] The left side of the shell has many elevated holes set equally distant from each other, and are formed due to the breathing process. These sea snails breath through tubular filaments protruding from each hole, as such, the number of holes in an individual's shell does not change much though its several stages of growth.^[4]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western Indian Ocean from the Red Sea south through most of the eastern coast of Africa, and east to Réunion and Mauritius.