The food preferences of abalone are species specific. The primary
determinants appear to be habitat and food availability (Barkai and
Griffiths, 1986; Dunstan et al., 1996).We evaluated the effect of feeding
three species of seaweed. The feed intake of kelp was higher than
G. lemaneiformis and S. pallidum in both single-species diets and in the
mixed diets. This indicates a dietary preference for kelp in H. discus
hannai.Our results are generally consistentwith the findings of previous
studies that showlarge juveniles and adults of H. discus hannai prefer to
feed on brown Laminariales macroalgae