ABALONE  , the

Spanish name used in California for various species of the shell-fish of the Haliotidae family, with a richly coloured shell yielding mother-of-pearl . This sort of Haliotis is also commonly called " ear-shell," and in Guernsey " ormer (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer) . The abalone shell is found especially at Santa Barbara and other places on the southern Californian coast, and when polished makes a beautiful ornament . The mollusc itself is often eaten, and dried for consumption in China and Japan .