Heart Abalone Explained

[Hukk]

Many folks wonder, exactly what is Genuine Heart Abalone. I took a picture of this Red Abalone (Haliotis rufescens) and then drew a red line around what would be the approximate heart area of the shell that has a more colorful pattern of the rest of the shell. We call this area the scar, it's where the meat is attached to the shell. The outer shell is used in knives and jewlery also. Sometimes you will see it called "fingerprint". It is usually a solid color with a few wavy, patterned lines, both are quite pretty.
The green circles show why so few shells are suitable for knives. The green circles are around Boring Clams that live in the shell. You can see that 2 of them are covered over, but the little clam is inside and the hole goes to the outside. 2 of the clams are uncovered and the holes go all the way through. In time they just fell out. The other problem shell have is small pin holes and boring sponge. Many shells have very small "worm holes", small pin holes that make it useless for anything. About 1 1/2% of all shells are suitable for knives. There is no longer a commercial abalone industry in California, so Red Abalone and Green Abalone (Haliotis fulgrens) are becoming more scarce. Paua comes from New Zealand and is taking over as there is still a commercial industry there. I hope this helps with Heart Abalone.