>Could any of you tell me how many different species of Haliotis there are?
>John in very cold, icie and snowie in Tennessee.


Strictly speaking Haliotis is monotypic, if it is correct that H. asinina
Linne is the genotype (as usual, I'm sending this reply near midnight, from
work, where my reference material isn't); this species is unique in both
shell and animal morphology. Ever seen a photo of a live one? The aniomal
is a great big beautuful green thing far too big to hide under its shell,
unlike any other member of the family.

Many "subgenera" such as Sulculus, Paua, Padollus etc are really genera,
though some of these are undoubtedly subgenera or synonyms of others. The
family really needs a supraspecific revision, if it hasn't already been
done (I haven't heard of its being done).

Andrew G