A new assessment of all the Recent taxa of the family Haliotidae is presented. The 17 Recent and one fossil genus-level taxa are evaluated based on their type species. These taxa are recommended not to be used until a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the family is available. The approximately 200 nominate, species-level taxa in the Haliotidae are reviewed. Fifty-five species with ten additional subspecies are considered valid. The following new synonymies are proposed: Haliotis brazieri Angas, 1869, + melculus (Iredale, 1927); H. hargravesi Cox, 1869, + ethologus (Iredale, 1927); H. jacnensis Reeve, 1846, + hanleyi Ancey, 1881; H. marmorata Linnaeus, 1758, + guineensis Gmelin, 1791, + rosacea Reeve, 1846; H. pustulata Reeve, 1846, + jousseaumi Mabille, 1888; H. rubiginosa Reeve, 1846, + howensis (Iredale, 1929); H. rugosa Lamarck, 1822, + multiperforata Reeve, 1846, + revelata Deshayes, 1863; H. striata Linnaeus, 1758, + lamellosa Lamarck, 1822; H. tuberculata Linnaeus, 1758, + incisa Reeve, 1846, + japonica Reeve, 1846, + reticulata Reeve, 1846; H. varia Linnaeus, 1758, + barbouri Foster, 1945, + dringii Reeve, 1846, + gemma Reeve, 1846. Haliotis neglecta Philippi, 1848, is resurrected as a valid species from the Mediterranean. Lectotypes for H. multiperforata Reeve, 1846, and H. revelata Deshayes, 1863, are selected. For all taxa considered valid the geographic distribution and sources of published illustrations are given. Infrequently illustrated species are figured.