In the 1980s, an employee of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife who was privately farming abalone in California imported some South African abalone (Haliotis midae) and failed to quarantine them.
With the abalone were introduced the non-native polychaete worm Terebrassabella heterouncinata.
This worm escaped into the ocean at Cayucos, California, where an abalone farm had long been established.
It also entered the wild at many other sites.
Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Department of Fish and Wildlife joined the staff of the abalone farm and many volunteers to eradicate the pest.

Shortly after this, another disease of abalone appeared on Santa Cruz Island.
It spread to the other Channel Islands of California and to the mainland of California.
This bacterial disease proved to be devastating to both wild and farmed populations.
It was named "withering syndrome" because the abalones starved to death even when food was plentiful.
This was because the bacterium infested the digestive tract of the abalones and prevented digestion and absorption of kelp, the abalone's primary food source.
The bacterium is a member of the family Rickettsiaceae.

Coincidentally, withering syndrome first appeared  a few years after H. midae were imported into California, near Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island, adjacent to the area where seaweed was harvested for an abalone farm at Port Hueneme, California.
Its spread was aided by the Department of Fish and Game, which planted infected abalone into the wild north of Point Conception.

This bacterium attacks several species of abalone.
It causes the viscera and foot muscle to atrophy, causing lethargy and starvation.
The infected abalone cannot move along the substrate or right itself when upended.
The disease is fatal.

Withering syndrome, overfishing, and habitat loss has been responsible for the listing of black abalone and white abalone as Endangered Species.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service will begin a program to reintroduce abalone.
Withering syndrome has struck all the abalone farms in California at one time or another, and has also been spread to Iceland and Ireland by the export of infected California Red Abalone, H. rufescens.

Abalone exported to Israel before H. midae were imported to California were not reported to have withering syndrome.
 Black abalone, red abalone, green abalone, white abalone, and two other species of abalone have virtually disappeared from Southern California because of withering syndrome, while the Northern California populations have remained more numerous because of the colder waters.
Green abalone and white abalone are now not common in Northern California, whereas they were once numerous in Southern California, and black abalone may become extinct in the near future.
In the 1980s, an employee of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife who was privately farming abalone in California imported some South African abalone (Haliotis midae) and failed to quarantine them. With the abalone were introduced the non-native polychaete worm Terebrassabella heterouncinata. This worm escaped into the ocean at Cayucos, California, where an abalone farm had long been established. It also entered the wild at many other sites. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Department of Fish and Wildlife joined the staff of the abalone farm and many volunteers to eradicate the pest.
Shortly after this, another disease of abalone appeared on Santa Cruz Island. It spread to the other Channel Islands of California and to the mainland of California. This bacterial disease proved to be devastating to both wild and farmed populations. It was named "withering syndrome" because the abalones starved to death even when food was plentiful. This was because the bacterium infested the digestive tract of the abalones and prevented digestion and absorption of kelp, the abalone's primary food source. The bacterium is a member of the family Rickettsiaceae.
Coincidentally, withering syndrome first appeared  a few years after H. midae were imported into California, near Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island, adjacent to the area where seaweed was harvested for an abalone farm at Port Hueneme, California. Its spread was aided by the Department of Fish and Game, which planted infected abalone into the wild north of Point Conception.
This bacterium attacks several species of abalone. It causes the viscera and foot muscle to atrophy, causing lethargy and starvation. The infected abalone cannot move along the substrate or right itself when upended. The disease is fatal.
Withering syndrome, overfishing, and habitat loss has been responsible for the listing of black abalone and white abalone as Endangered Species. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service will begin a program to reintroduce abalone. Withering syndrome has struck all the abalone farms in California at one time or another, and has also been spread to Iceland and Ireland by the export of infected California Red Abalone, H. rufescens.
Abalone exported to Israel before H. midae were imported to California were not reported to have withering syndrome.  Black abalone, red abalone, green abalone, white abalone, and two other species of abalone have virtually disappeared from Southern California because of withering syndrome, while the Northern California populations have remained more numerous because of the colder waters. Green abalone and white abalone are now not common in Northern California, whereas they were once numerous in Southern California, and black abalone may become extinct in the near future.
Haliotis rufescens