[3][4] The known distribution for Haliotis pourtalesii reported in the literature puts it in a range that extends from the coast of North Carolina to Florida in the United States of America[5][6][7] and from there through the Gulf of Mexico,[8][9] to Cuba,[10][11] the Caribbean coasts of Colombia,[12] Venezuela[13][14] and Suriname[15]), the West Indies[16] and to the shores of Brazil.

There are 22 to 27 to wavy, spiral cords on the outer surface which is colored a waxy yellow to light-brown, with a few irregular patches of reddish orange.

[21] "The small shell is painted with a pale brick-red color, with white dots on some of the spirals, The spire is rather elevated, consisting of about two and a half whorls.

The sculpture of the shell shows a well marked, rather flattish, spiral, close-set threads, sometimes with a single finer intercalary thread, overlaid by smaller rather compressed transverse ridges, in harmony with the incremental lines.

It has been collected in a bathymetric range between 25 and 230 meters depth, usually on hard substrates.