Haliotis discus hannai Ino, 1953

Description

Geiger and Owen (2012).

Distribution

Native to coastal waters of East Asia (Geiger and Owen 2012). In Chile this species is commercially harvested, with aquaculture farms in Caldera (27° S), northern Chile (Valdovinos 1999). It was first introduced to the country in 1982 (Flores-Aguilar et al. 2007).

Possible mechanism of introduction/Status

Imported to Chile for aquaculture (Castilla et al. 2005; Flores-Aguilar et al. 2007).

Remarks

Herbivorous species, this species has an indirect impact on the communities of the native rocky kelp Lessonia nigrescens and Lessonia trabeculata, which are used as abalone food in Chilean aquaculture facilities (Castilla et al. 2005; Flores-Aguilar et al. 2007). This species is also a primary introduction vector for the non-indigenous boring polychaete species Polydora uncinata Sato-Okoshi, 1998 (Radashevsky and Olivares 2005). UA, II.