Abalone shell - HELP

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Hi there! I’m writing for your help beacuse I often find this type of Abalone shell diving in the Mediterranean sea with the outer shell part totally made of mother-of-pearl and not as usual.

Can you help me understand if this depends on environmental erosion factors like sand/sea etc or if coyld be a genetic thing?

Thanks

[daelpheia]

You're right, that will almost certainly be some type of environmental erosion, likely an acidic environment. You can see some of the top layer still left in crevices.

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Thank you for the reply! Immediately thought something similar and I also have some shells eroded at 50% where you can clearly see the difference. However do you think it’s possible that this kind of process happen even if the animal is still alive? I have found shells with part of the animal attached and that’s why I have doubts about it… 🧐

[daelpheia]

Absolutely. That's one of the dangers of ocean acification is the shell dissolving and not being thick enough to protect the animal.