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Home/Species/ Black Abalone

Haliotis cracherodii

Leach, 1814

Black Abalone

G3Vulnerable Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
Critically endangeredIUCN
Very high - highThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.120086
Element CodeIMGASV2030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
IUCNCritically endangered
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderArchaeogastropoda
FamilyHaliotidae
GenusHaliotis
Concept Reference
Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
Listed as H. cracherodii cracherodii by Geiger and Owen (2012), accepted as an "alternate representation" by WoRMS.
Conservation Status
Review Date2008-02-01
Change Date2008-02-01
Edition Date2008-02-01
Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J.
Threat ImpactVery high - high
Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 - 300
Rank Reasons
The current range extends from Point Arena (Mendocino Co., California, south to Northern Baja California, Mexico. This species occurs over a broad latitudinal range, tough the range appears to have narrowed somewhat from historic times. Historic fishing pressure and current loss to to disease and poor viability threatend this species with extinction.
Range Extent Comments
There is some debate as to the northern historic range extent of this species. Many have cited the historic range as extending from Coos Bay, Oregon to Cabo San Lucas, Southern Baja California, Mexico but the northernmost documented record from museum specimens is from Crescent City, Del Norte Co., California. The current range extends from Point Arena (Mendocino Co., California, south to Northern Baja California, Mexico (USFWS, 2008).
Threat Impact Comments
Documented threates include (from greatest to least, though all are high): the disease known as withering syndrome that has spread to areas throughout the range of the species and has been responsible for local extirpation of populations throughout a large part of the species' range, low adult densities below the critical threshold density required for successful fertilization, other interacting factors (suboptimal water temperatures negatively impacted by global warming, reduced genetic diversity, illegal harvest). Legal harvest played a significant role as a threat to the species in the past as Rogers and Bennett et al. (2002) estimated that the California abalone fisheries amy have contributed up to 99% of the reduction in black abalone abundance in the United States; however the fisheries were closed in 1993
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

The species occurs from the high intertidal to 6 m depth, and has evolved to withstand extreme variation in environmental conditions such as temperature, salinity, moisture, and wave action. It occurs on a variety of rock types and complex surfaces with cracks and crevices are crucial to recruitment (USFWS, 2008).
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
CaliforniaS2Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial development——Insignificant/negligible or past
1.1 - Housing & urban areas——Insignificant/negligible or past
4 - Transportation & service corridors——Insignificant/negligible or past
5 - Biological resource use——Insignificant/negligible or past
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases——Insignificant/negligible or past
8.2 - Problematic native species/diseases——Insignificant/negligible or past
9 - Pollution——Insignificant/negligible or past
9.1 - Domestic & urban waste water——Insignificant/negligible or past
9.2 - Industrial & military effluents——Insignificant/negligible or past

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Roadless Areas (3)
California (3)
AreaForestAcres
Black MountainLos Padres National Forest16,818
Santa CruzLos Padres National Forest21,182
TequepisLos Padres National Forest9,080
References (6)
  1. Geiger D. L., and B. Owen. 2012. Abalone: Worldwide Haliotidae. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. viii + 361 pp.
  2. Geiger, D. L. and G. T. Poppe. 2000. Haliotidae. Pp. 61-62 in Poppe, G. T. and K. Groh (Eds.). Conchological Iconography. ConchBooks, Weisbaden. 135 pp.
  3. Rogers-Bennett, L., P.L. Haaker, K.a. Karpov, and D.J. Kushner 2002. Using spatially explicit data to evaluate marine protected areas for abalone in southern California. Conservation Biology, 16: 1308-1317.
  4. Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
  5. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2008. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; proposed Endangered Status for black abalone. Federal Register 73(8):1986-1999.
  6. WoRMS Editorial Board. 2019. World Register of Marine Species. Available: http://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ (accessed 25 Jan 2019)