Abalone

About this species

Haliotis iris, common name, blackfoot pāua, tuke o rangi, rainbow abalone or simply pāua is a species of edible marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalone. It is endemic to shallow waters on the coast of New Zealand. Widely consumed as a delicacy, its iridescent, nacreous shell is used for jewellery, decor and other handicrafts. Blackfoot pāua has cultural significance to both Māori and Pākehā and has become emblematic of New Zealand's cultural identity.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Haliotis iris”, 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: 164 records
February: 361 records
March: 134 records
April: 372 records
May: 112 records
June: 182 records
July: 84 records
August: 87 records
September: 92 records
October: 124 records
November: 160 records
December: 124 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–9 m · Deepest record: 12.5 m

0–10 m: 317 records
10–20 m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–18 °C

10–12 °C: 125 records
12–14 °C: 97 records
14–16 °C: 10 records
16–18 °C: 29 records

Photos

(c) naturewatchwidow, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Berardozzi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Leon Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Jenny Saito, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Abalone, black-foot abalone, Black-foot Paua, Black Foot Paua, blackfoot pāua, paua, rainbow abalone

Other scientific names: Haliotis (Paua) iris

Similar species

Blacklip abalone
Haliotis rubra
Silver abalone
Haliotis australis
Reddish-rayed Abalone
Haliotis coccoradiata
Circular ear shell
Haliotis cyclobates
Greenlip Abalone
Haliotis laevigata
Staircase abalone
Haliotis 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).
1,293 open-data records from 1919 to 2012.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.