Pink abalones can be found along the Pacific coast of North America from Point Conception, California to Bahia de Santa Maria, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The shell is thick and characterized by strong corrugations and is more circular than other American abalones. The muscle impression is large, distinct, roughened all over, and like fine mosaic work in its brilliant coloration.

This species occupies sheltered waters at depths between 20 and 118 feet (6 – 36 m). They are herbivores, feeding on kelp and drifting algae. Pink abalone are threatened by historic overharvesting, illegal harvest, withering abalone syndrome disease, and climate change. In 1996, the California Department of Fish and Game closed the commercial and recreational abalone fisheries in California, but populations continued to decline.

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