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From Jersey to Galicia...

H. testa subovata, rugis transversis tuberculatis. Habitat in O. Europaeo. S.N. #648 p.780. In this area, Haliotis tuberculata reaches its larger sizes. Fished for consumption, it lives in upper sublittoral level, where it is collected by snorkelers and divers. The species can also be encountered during extreme low tides, in crevices of offshore reefs. As for the mushrooms, the good places are kept secret.

 
CHANNEL ISLANDS (spot 1):
Guernesey, 116mm.
Large, brown to cream, flat folds, weak ribbing.
Typical of SW. Normandy form.

   
 
CHANNEL ISLANDS (spot 1):
Jersey, 102 to 114mm.
Same form than the preceeding.
These northern shells are often potato-shaped.

   
 
SAINT-MALO (spot 2):
103mm.
Specimen in natural condition.
The nacre is pale, silvery.

   
 
SAINT-MALO (spot 2):
114mm.
Specimen in natural condition.
Large, heavy, rounded.

   
 
SAINT-MALO (spot 2):
100 to 108mm.
Shades of green and purple.
Marbled pattern.

   
 
SAINT-MALO (spot 2):
Mount St. Michel Bay, western side. 107-111mm.
Old timers fished in deeper water, by snorkel.
The pattern follows a spiral band.

   
 
SAINT-BRIEUC (spot 3):
Red specimens from deep water. 93-100mm.
The decoration becomes variable.
All along the northern coast, the shape will remain constant.

   
 
SAINT-BRIEUC (spot 3):
115-117mm.
The nacre is pale. Gerontic specimens often show some kind of pearly enkystments around the muscular print.

   
 
BREST (spot 4):
At low tide. 80-86mm.
Super redskins from the far west. Great shells from Franck Frydman's collection. Did you notice the lamellæ?

   
 
GROIX ISLAND (spot 5):
62mm.
Beachstormed subadult. The dorsum shows unusual large and flat cords.
Sculpture is less variable among a single area than between two distinct ones.

   
 
GROIX ISLAND (spot 5):
90mm. Locmaria intertidal rocky flats.
Beachstormed adult. The pure Sea-Potato.

   
 
GROIX ISLAND (spot 5):
15-32mm. Storang cove, and Port-Mélite.
Beachstormed juveniles, with delicate colours.

   
 
GROIX ISLAND (spot 5):
Farmed abalones from Port-Tudy, on the island. Specimens larger than 4cm are sold, at 95euros/kg (64usd/lb), as the cocktail-abalone. The colours are typical of farmed haliotids.

   
 
GALICIA (spot 6):
A Coruña. 79 to 83mm.
Shells flat, lighter in weight than specimens from Brittany or Normandy. The nacre changes.


The species is quite constant in shape and size, but varies considerably in pattern and colour. The sculpture remains weak, sometimes made of flat cords, but usually given by fine striae. Adult specimens are smaller in the south than in the north, the largest ones coming from the cold waters of NW. Brittany. The patterns show zigzags, flammae, marblings, which can cover the whole dorsum as well as a single spiral band (see the pic above). Unpatterned shells also exist, especially near Normandy.
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