Why does abalone have holes

The first two pores are the water paths, which contain gums for respiration. For the other pores, some are for fertilization by spreading gamete, others are for emitting the waste. Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day! Dunkin Donuts sells "munchkins", which are "donut holes". Are the munchkins really made out of the cut-out holes of donuts, or are they produced entirely independently? What is the shell of an orange called?

Me'shell N'degeocello N. This is particularly bizarre when you consider the function of these holes. There are many ways to prepare — and eat — abalone. You can eat them cold, straight off the shell, or cook them in a number of ways. However, like some other species of seafood, abalone is almost always cooked alive. Of course, the fresh and rare abalone is the most expensive. The finest examples demand a high price in restaurants, owing to the difficulties in obtaining and transporting them.

This is the case with many sought-after delicacies around the world. In the United States, a kilo of abalone will regularly cost around five hundred dollars.

However, you need to bear in mind that this will only yield around two hundred and fifty grams of meat. There are many forms of ocean-based delicacies that will easily break the bank. Inside its mouth is a large, rough tongue which it uses to file food off of rocks and to break up kelp. Abalone does not have a centralised brain, but the network of nerves throughout its body serves the same function.

Contrary to what you might think, this snail isn't a slowpoke - it uses its one powerful foot to outrun would-be predators. Abalone is weird! That's why it's on our list of weirdest ocean animals of all time. Courtesy of Gastropods. H midae is the largest of the five species found here, and the one most people think of when they hear "perlemoen". It is very large and can grow up to 23cm across. Its shell is corrugated at irregular intervals, with "furry" projections of simple tentacles protruding from the shell's edge.

It inhabits shallow reefs, feeding on kelp and red algae along the coasts of the Western and Eastern Capes. The smallest abalone species, rarely growing beyond 45mm, the siffie is notable for the large hump that traces the spiral of its shell. Its shell is a mottled orange-brown, and its head has bright orange tentacles.

This species is found under rocks and in rock pools in the Southern Cape and parts of the Eastern Cape. This abalone is ear-shaped, with a shell commonly stained with red blotches. It is a small abalone, rarely growing larger than 8cm. The Venus ear lives in rocky crevasses along the coasts of the Southern and Eastern Cape, feeding on red algae. Quekett's abalone is similar in size and distribution to the spiral-ridged siffie, being slightly larger and occuring a bit further east along the South African coast.

It is a rare species, but easily identifiable by the prominent raised ridges along the edge of its shell and by its spirals. This is a very unusual species of abalone, rarely observed. It has a smooth, mottled grey shell and is small, only growing up to 9cm. All abalone species eat algae, and mature adults prefer scraps of kelp. Abalone are quite lazy and prefer to remain in a small area and wait for scraps of kelp to drift by.

However, they will move when there is a change in season or water quality, or when food is scarce - a change in their shell colour usually indicates a new food source. Juvenile abalone cannot grip the scraps of kelp, so they rely on films of bacteria, algae and micro-organisms on rocks for nourishment.

In nature, abalone are at risk of predation at all stages of their life. Their eggs and planktonic larvae are fed on by filter-feeders like barnacles, bivalves and shrimps.

Juvenile abalone hide in cracks or under the spines of Cape sea urchins during the day but need to forage at night - putting them at risk of predation by octopuses , sea stars , crustaceans, snails and durophagous shell-swallowing fish.

Adult abalone are at risk of predation by a few large predators, such as rays with crushing jaws and sea otters. However, humans pose the greatest threat to mature abalone and are responsible for its current population decline. Abalone are "broadcast spawners", meaning their eggs and sperm are released into the ocean and fertilisation takes place in the water column. This spawning is synchronised by temperature, season or a full moon - different species use different indicators.

A fully grown abalone can release tens of millions of eggs in a single spawn. Eggs hatch into tiny larvae that swim freely in the water for a few weeks, using tiny hairs to propel themselves. Eventually, these larvae settle on the sea floor and shed these hairs - immediately beginning the secretion of a shell. Survival rates are very low, and it is estimated that fewer than one in 10 abalone survive to maturity even before taking human threats into account.

Perlemoen takes eight to 10 years to reach "legal" fishing size in designated commercial zones.