Category:Abalone

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Abalone, the Spanish name used in California for various species of the shell-fish of the Haliotidae family, with a richly coloured shell yielding mother-of-pearl. This sort of Haliotis is also commonly called ``ear-shell, and in Guernsey ``ormer (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer). The abalone shell is found especially at Santa Barbara and other places on the southern Californian coast, and when polished makes a beautiful ornament. The mollusc itself is often eaten, and dried for consumption in China and Japan.