Abalones

Univalves aren’t generally popular eating, but the 100 or so species of abalone found around the world are the exception. They live in the swell zone along open coastlines and so have developed a large muscular foot with which they firmly attach themselves to their rocky homes. This firm muscle is the part that is eaten. Australia has two main abalone species, greenlip and blacklip, differentiated by the colour of the dark lip around the edge of their foot. Some are harvested from the wild and some are farmed; small farmed greenlip abalones are sold as cocktail abalones.