Abalone / Maine Lobster Transplants

[lowviz]

@sam miller

First, my sincere apologies for posting this in your backyard. (I seem to irritate the frat club so I'm trying to stay under the radar while I can.)

I've become fascinated with why we don't have abalone here in the NE Atlantic. I got the book per your suggestion, thanks for the recommendation. Geiger & Owen, page 32. "They are notably absent along the shores with extensive soft-bottoms, such as the northeastern coast of North America." That would be us... *sigh*

Got me to thinking. I would suggest a colony be attempted in the most unusual pilings of Manasquan:

Perfect for them. "Their remarkable adhesion to rocks ...//... is greater than the attachment to the shell."

Turnabout is fair play. This may amuse you:
Wanted American Lobster

@agilis: Your thoughts, as usual, would be most welcome with respect to the introduction of foreign species.

 

[LACounty4806]

If you want to know why there are no abalone in the NE Atlantic, it is because of endemism. We think of the ocean as one big connected ecosystem but there are literally temperate barriers, with the poles and the equator being the most obvious, that prevent species from just freely moving from place to place. Abalone like we have here in the NW Pacific are one of those species. That is not to say that they couldn't survive in the NE Atlantic, but that the odds of them getting there is highly, highly unlikely. If they did end up there, they would be literally an invasive species that wouldn't fit into the ecosystem that exists today.

 

[lowviz]

If you want to know why there are no abalone in the NE Atlantic, it is because of endemism. ...

Maybe.

But explain to me why something so likely to thrive here in our nutrient rich waters is totally absent? I see their worldwide distribution and I can't rationalize why a Jamaca, Puerto Rico, or Barbados species didn't establish here from the free swimming phase. Even the book states: "notably absent".

We have all the other tropical stuff coming up here to freeze and die in the winter...

...//... If they did end up there, they would be literally an invasive species that wouldn't fit into the ecosystem that exists today.

Have no fear. I would be the last person to attempt a transplant. Commensals and parasites are just too big of an unknown threat.

My post was a bit over the top just so I could con an answer from a SoCal type. Different breed, so unfortunate that my only dear contacts to that world are non-divers.

Thanks for responding. I don't belong here, and I know it, but curiosity pushes me into the oddest places...

 

[LACounty4806]

Maybe.

But explain to me why something so likely to thrive here in our nutrient rich waters is totally absent? I see their worldwide distribution and I can't rationalize why a Jamaca, Puerto Rico, or Barbados species didn't establish here from the free swimming phase. Even the book states: "notably absent".

We have all the other tropical stuff coming up here to freeze and die in the winter...
Have no fear. I would be the last person to attempt a transplant. Commensals and parasites are just too big of an unknown threat.

My post was a bit over the top just so I could con an answer from a SoCal type. Different breed, so unfortunate that my only dear contacts to that world are non-divers.

Thanks for responding. I don't belong here, and I know it, but curiosity pushes me into the oddest places...

I think the issue against your argument is that all abalone are the not same. You kind of answered your own question when you said that you have warm water species that end up north and die off in the winter. In California these days, there is relatively speaking, very little overlap between what were the prevalent species. The range of reds extends basically south to the northern Channel islands while pinks and greens are the main abs south into the So Cal bight down into Mexico. You're talking 100 or so miles where things change pretty quickly and that's with relatively consistent environmental conditions, ie all kelp forests. Take into account that abs are also broadcast spawners and need a density population of at least 2000 mature animals per hectare to even think about successfully reproducing and you start narrowing the window on conditions whereby a population can successfully establish itself.

Not saying it can't happen. just saying it hasn't and there are pretty clear reasons why.

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

We had them on the east cost about 2 million years ago, I have a big shell of one that was dug up in a quarry here in the keys.

 

[keithbt]

I have found a Maine lobster at Shaws cove. It was in a crack at maybe 20'. It think was suffering because I could go right up to it and it never swam away. The only thing we could think of is someone bought it at a local restaurant and released it. I have talked to other divers who have see the came thing at Redondo Pier, Vets Park Area. Dumb.

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

I have found a Maine lobster at Shaws cove. It was in a crack at maybe 20'. It think was suffering because I could go right up to it and it never swam away. The only thing we could think of is someone bought it at a local restaurant and released it. I have talked to other divers who have see the came thing at Redondo Pier, Vets Park Area. Dumb.

HA HA HA HA HA and they thought they were doing good.

 

[lowviz]

... and they thought they were doing good.

Well, I'm thinking that someone's conscience overrode a memorable dinner. What a waste.

We east-coasters do things a bit differently. For your amusement: Watch Weekend Update: Eddie Murphy on Larry the Lobster's Fate from Saturday Night Live on NBC.com

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

lol