Gonadal reproductive and metabolic proteins of male abalone Haliotis laevigata (Donovan, 1808) assessed by targeted mass spectrometry after artificial induction of spawning

Aquacultured abalone (Haliotis sp.) constitute more than 80% of the current global abalone market with the majority of farming in China and Korea (Gordon & Cook, 2013). A major issue faced by farmers is the lack of control over spawning hindering on-demand production of high value abalone. The current methods to induce spawning were developed in the 1970s and subject abalone to an oxidative environment stimulated by either the addition of hydrogen peroxide (Morse, Duncan, Hooker & Morse, 1977; Tanaka, 1978) or by a combination of increased water temperature and irradiation of flowing sea water with ultraviolet (UV) light (Kikuchi & Uki, 1977). Spawning varies greatly depending on the abalone species (Grubert & Ritar, 2004, 2005; Moss, Illingworth & Tong, 1995; Tanaka, 1978).