Circular ear shell
Haliotis cyclobates
- Water temperature16–21 °C
- Best monthsJuly, September, and October
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Haliotis cyclobates, common name the whirling abalone or the circular ear shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Haliotis cyclobates”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 117 records
- February: 89 records
- March: 56 records
- April: 70 records
- May: 125 records
- June: 111 records
- July: 263 records
- August: 244 records
- September: 272 records
- October: 278 records
- November: 194 records
- December: 190 records
Depth and water temperature
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 16–21 °C
Photos
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) David Gobbett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Rosalie Lawrence, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) David Gobbett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) graeme lunt, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Circular ear shell, Whirling abalone, circular ear shell, whirling abalone
Names in 1 more languages
- German
- Gewirbelte Abalone, Gewirbeltes Mausohr
Other scientific names: Haliotis (Exohaliotis) cyclobates, Haliotis excavata
Similar species
Blacklip abaloneHaliotis rubra
Silver abaloneHaliotis australis
Reddish-rayed AbaloneHaliotis coccoradiata
AbaloneHaliotis iris
Greenlip AbaloneHaliotis laevigata
Staircase abaloneHaliotis scalaris
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 107 open-data records from 1911 to 1973.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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