Green Abalone, National Parks gallery

Green Abalone - Under rocks and crevices in the low intertidal (although now they are rarely or more accurately never found in the intertidal. Historically, Green and Black Abalone were found in our tidepools in abundance. Now greens are extremely rare, and no Black Abalone has been reported in Cabrillo National Monument since monitoring began in 1990).

Besides man, abalones have a number of predators, including crabs, octopuses, fishes, sea otters, and seastars. Abalones tend to live wedged in between rocks, held to the substrate by a large muscular foot. Once they have clamped down on the rock, it is impossible to remove them without a pinch bar. Although they tend to stay relatively still, they are capable of movement-especially when being attacked by a seastar.

Once common in California waters, they are virtually gone from the intertidal.

cabrillo national monument green abalone black abalone rocks abalones green seastars sea otters pinch bar california waters national parks gallery national monuments california san diego

1916 - 2020

National Parks Gallery

https://npgallery.nps.gov/

Public Domain Dedication