Abalones at risk: A global Red List assessment of Haliotis in a changing climate

Atlantic. This sector includes both the Western Atlantic and the Eastern Atlantic from the English Channel south to Gabon in Central Africa, including the Mediterranean. There are six species (Table 3) of which just one, H. pourtalesii is found in the Western Atlantic. H. pourtalesii (DD) occurs south from the Carolinas to Central Brazil (including the Carib- bean/Gulf of Mexico), although as it occurs in deeper waters than most abalones, its distribu- tion is uncertain. Of the five species in the Eastern Atlantic, H. tuberculata (VU) (Fig 4), known in the UK as green ormer, is the only commercially fished species with its subspecies H. tuberculata tuberculata form lamellosa found throughout the Mediterranean. Although in many parts of its range this species’ fishery is controlled, failure of enforcement and poaching across large areas of habitat have considerably reduced the overall population with few signs of recovery [66]. H. stomatiaeformis (VU) only occurs in Sicily, Malta and Lampedusa where its restricted range and decline in habitat quality and the marine ecology of the region places it at risk [67]. H. geigeri (VU) occupies a highly restricted range off the islands of Sa´o Tome´ and Fig 1. Global distribution of abalone spp. (a) all species, (b) species commercially fished, and (c) species threatened with extinction—Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulnerable (VU). Basemap (i.e. country layer only) sourced from Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309384.g001 PLOS ONE

Abalones at risk: A global Red List assessment of Haliotis PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309384 December 23, 2024 10 / 25