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Northwestern Morocco to Sénégal...

Lamarck's description of Haliotis tuberculata begins by these words: H. testa ovato-oblongá, convexo-depressâ, longitudinaliter striatâ, transversè plicatâ ; plicis inæqualibus remotiusculis... etc. (Haliotide #6).
...transversè plicatâ... This is one of the major differences between the two morphs : folds in tuberculata, lamellæ in the form lamellosa. In mediterranean specimens, the folds can become sharp crests that sinuate upon the dorsum, while atlantic shells rarely show such elevated ridges.
Abalones from W. Morocco are special. They resemble a little those of Algarve, but with a larger size. Also, their colors are more variable, with, especially, a red that is definitively not mediterranean.

 
CASABLANCA (spot 1):
1m deep, under rocks. 72mm.
The dorsal surface is covered with flat spiral cords, a bit like on the subadult specimen from Groix island (p.1, #4). Here is the famous red.

   
 
CASABLANCA (spot 1):
1m deep, under rocks. 53mm.
This exceptionnal pink-red is not the only typical feature of the area: the nacre, also, has changed. It is now more green than blue.

   
 
CASABLANCA (spot 1):
1m deep, under rocks. 48mm.
A smoother sculpture, a rounder ventral margin, a less excentred spire, a wider columella, and a chestnut color. This specimens shows completely different characters.

   
 
CASABLANCA (spot 1):
1m deep, under rocks. 47mm.
An other one from the same spot. The pattern is marbled. The spire, the columella, are not those of a true tuberculata.

   
 
SIDI ABED (spot 2):
1-2m deep, under rocks. 83mm.
The ventral margin is straighter. The general draw is of a brittanic specimen, like those pictured in page 1. A heavy adult, and large for the area.

   
 
SIDI ABED (spot 2):
At low tide, under stones. 44-48mm.
Again the chestnut form, which seems to be quite constant in color, pattern and sculpture.

   
 
SIDI ABED (spot 2):
Same spot, at low tide under stones. 45,7mm.
The nacre is pale, of a silver blue. This marbled abalone is named, when it comes from Sénégal, marmorata Lin.

   
 
AGADIR (spot 3):
1m deep, at low tide, under stone. 70mm.
Orange to reddish, with poor pattern, elongate, with a rougher surface, a greenish nacre: this one is a true tuberculata.

   
 
AGADIR (spot 3):
1m deep, at low tide, under stone. 60mm.
Specimens from this area are among the most beautiful of all tuberculata's. Their shape and sculpture are a bit like those of H. semiplicata.

   
 
TARFAYA (spot 4):
1m deep, at low tide under rock. 43-56mm.
Here is again this special design from Morocco. There is a great difference between the two forms that cohabit here: the elongate and striated shell, and the polished, rounded chestnut abalone.

   
 
TARFAYA (spot 4):
1m deep, at low tide under rock. 36-41mm.
Purple shells are uncommon everywhere.

   
 
ALMADIES (spot 5):
1-2m deep, on rocks. 53mm.
Again a chestnut shell, more elongate than usual. The enlarged picture shows also a funny little specimen that was collected at the same place; this is an example of what Reeve named rosacea.


Abalones from the northwestern coast of Morocco can be separated in two identifiable groups: the first one is made of slender shells, of various colors and patterns, mostly red and green, with a dorsal sculpture covered of fine scaly cords. These scales, caused by growth lines crossing the spiral cords, are more or less pronounced, but always give the dorsum a rough appearance.
A contrario, the second group is smooth under the finger, like if it was polished (imagine a dark wooden dresser, well nourished with beeswax); it is rounded, less flat, and remarkably constant in its decorative choices. If the first group is a special variation on the general tree of tuberculata, the shells of the second one match Linnæi description of Haliotis marmorata.
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