Physiological responses of pink abalone Haliotis corrugata (Gray, 1828) exposed to different combinations of temperature and salinity

Physiological responses of pink abalone Haliotis corrugata were determined under different temperature and salinity conditions. Oxygen consumption rate was not affected by temperature and salinity. Ammonium excretion of pink abalone was inversely related to salinity. The O:N ratio indicated that abalone maintained in lower salinities had an interval of 4.9–7.7, which is indicative of a protein‐dominated metabolism, whereas the O:N in 35‰ was 28.8–35.5 for both temperatures, suggesting that carbohydrates were used as energy substrate. Haemolymph osmolality of abalone exposed to 20 and 24 °C was slightly hyperiso‐osmoconformic in salinity ranges of 20–35‰. The results of this study suggested that for optimized culture, pink abalone should be cultivated at 24 °C at a salinity of 35‰.