#3718 - Austrovenus stutchburyi - New Zealand Cockle
A DELIGHTFUL little mollusc - just look at those crenulations and ridges.
AKA New Zealand little neck clam, tuangi (North Island) or tuaki (South Island). Originally described in 1828 as Venus stutchburii by English surgeon, zoologist and entomologist William Wood. Over subsequent decades it was accidentally described several times again, transferred to the genus Chione genus and then finally to Austrovenus.
An edible saltwater Venerid clam, endemic to the harbours and estuaries of New Zealand, usually in soft mud or very fine sand. They live from the mid-tide level down to the subtidal zone, 2 or 3 centimeters below the seafloor.
At least two species parasitic trematodes infect the cockles, injuring their ability to burrow and leaving them vulnerable to hungry seabirds that are the next host in the parasite's life cycle.
As well as being collected for food, the shells were used as tweeezers for hair removal.
The earliest fossil record of A. stutchburyi is from the early Pliocene, a little over 5 million years ago.
Ōnawe Peninsula, Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula, Aotearoa, New Zealand