Credit: Peter Hain (Monterey, USA)
Red abalone, Haliotis rufescensis an important fishery resource in California, where several hatcheries are producing juveniles of this species. This picture has been taken in a nursing tank in one of those hatcheries located in Monterey region, California.
Diatom is the starting feed for baby abalone. As abalones grow on the corrugated sheets, diatoms can be supplemented with the addition of dried diatom powder, artificial abalone feed wafers and with wild Ulva sp. that grows in the tanks as shown in the picture. About two months before harvest the abalone for grow-out, abalone juveniles are introduced to macroalgae which may include Ulva, Palmaria, or Gracilaria sp.