1 Introduction Seafood is a globally valuable food source for humans [1]. Aquaculture plays an important role in meeting the growing demand for seafood, while reducing pressure on wild-caught fisheries [1]. Molluscs belonging to the genus Haliotis (commonly referred to as abalone) are an economically important seafood commodity [2]. Global production of abalone is now approaching 250,000 t annually and consists of both wild-caught and farmed abalone [3].