Paphies ventricosa
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| Paphies ventricosa | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1790) |
Paphies ventricosa - or Toheroa after the name for the species in the Māori language- is a large clam from the Mesodesmatidae family thatis endemic to New Zealand . It lives on the coast of both the North Island and the South Island , but its main habitat is the west coast of the North Island. It prefers wide sandy beaches with extensive sand dunes that enclose fresh water that seeps through the sand into the sea,promotingthe growth of diatoms and other plankton .
The Toheroa is a large clam with a white, elongated shell with a bulge in the middle. The toheroa was a very popular food that was often made into soup, which also gained international fame. After overfishing of the stocks in the 1950s and 1960s, the collection of mussels was severely restricted.
The shell of the mussel is up to 117 mm long, 81 mm wide and 38 mm thick.
swell
- New Zealand Mollusks Checklist
- Arthur William Baden Powell : New Zealand Mollusca , William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979, ISBN 0-00-216906-1