Paphies ventricosa - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Toheroa) Species of bivalve

Paphies ventricosa

Toheroa (Paphies ventricosa) at Oreti Beach, Southland, New Zealand
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Venerida
Family:	Mesodesmatidae
Genus:	Paphies
Species:	P. ventricosa
Binomial name
*Paphies ventricosa* (Gray, 1843)

Paphies ventricosa, or toheroa (a Māori word meaning "long tongue"), is a large bivalve mollusc of the family Mesodesmatidae, endemic to New Zealand.

Distribution

It is found in both the North and South Islands, but the main habitat is the west coast of the North Island. The best grounds are wide fine-sand beaches where there are extensive sand-dunes, enclosing freshwater, which percolates to the sea, there promoting the growth of diatoms and plankton.

Description

Video of a toheroa burying itself in the sand at Oreti Beach, showing the foot and the siphon

The toheroa is a very large shellfish with a solid white, elongated shell with the apex at the middle. Maximum length is 117 mm, height 81 mm, and thickness 38 mm.

Human use

Toheroa are a traditional food for Māori. Toheroa beds were resources that sometimes led to wars, and the shellfish was translocated across New Zealand using pōhā (kelp bags) made from southern bull kelp (Durvillaea poha).

The toheroa has long been a popular seafood, often made into a greenish soup. The soup became an international delicacy after the Royal Tour of Prince Edward in 1920, becoming popular in restaurants in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia. An industry developed around toheroa, including large-scale canning factories.

By the 1950s, toheroa populations had become over-exploited, and there has been a ban on harvesting (except for limited customary purposes) since 1979. However, numbers have not recovered since 1979, due to illegal poaching, poorly policed customary harvesting, vehicle driving on beaches, pollution, reduction in fresh water coming onto beaches, and gas bubble disease.

Toheroa cuisine

References

Edward Samuel. "The Toheroa — New Zealand's Exclusive Shell-fish". The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 4 (July 1, 1936).
Stace, Glenys (1991). "The elusive toheroa". New Zealand Geographic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
"Maori shellfish project wins scholarship". SunLive. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
^ Vennell, Robert (5 October 2022). Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand's Native Sea Creatures. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 72–77. ISBN 978-1-77554-179-0. LCCN 2021388548. Wikidata Q114871191.
"Toheroa Soup" (PDF).
Harvie, Will (4 March 2019). "Decades of fishing bans have not rescued seafood delicacy toheroa". Stuff. Retrieved 4 March 2019.

Checklist of New Zealand Mollusca
Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1

v t e Commercial mollusks
Marine gastropods	Abalone Periwinkle Whelk Buccinum undatum Bullacta exarata Kelletia kelletii Kelletia lischkei
Land and freshwater gastropods	Helix pomatia Cornu aspersum Helix aperta Cepaea nemoralis Otala lactea Escargot
Free-swimming marine bivalves	Scallop Queen scallop Pecten maximus Pecten jacobaeus Argopecten irradians Placopecten magellanicus
Infaunal bivalves	Clam Atlantic surf clam Soft-shell clam Mercenaria mercenaria Austrovenus stutchburyi Saxidomus nuttalli Arctica islandica Cockle Geoduck Spisula solidissima Paphies ventricosa Paphies australis Tuatua Ruditapes largillierti Grooved carpet shell
Sessile bivalves	Oyster Mussel Pearl oyster Pinctada maxima
Freshwater bivalves	Freshwater pearl mussel
Cephalopods	Octopus Squid Cuttlefish
Techniques	Heliciculture Gathering by hand Clam digging Dredging Oyster farming Oyster boats Pearl farming Pearl diving Ama divers Trawling
List of fishing topics by subject

v t e Fisheries and fishing topic areas
Fisheries	Aquaculture Diversity of fish Fish diseases and parasites Fish farming Fisheries management Fisheries science Individual fishing quota Sustainable fishery Overfishing Wild fisheries
Fishing	Artisanal fishing Fisherman Fishing vessel History of fishing
Industry	List of harvested aquatic animals by weight By country Commercial fishing Marketing Markets Processing Products Seafood
Recreation	Angling Big-game fishing Catch and release Fishing tournaments Fly fishing
Techniques	Destructive fishing practices Fish trap Fishfinder Fishing net Gathering seafood by hand Handline fishing Spearfishing Trawling Trolling
Tackle	Artificial flies Bait Bite indicators Hook Line Lures Rod Sinker
Locations	Fish ponds Fishing banks Fishing villages Marine habitats
Crime	Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations Coral poaching Freshwater eel poaching and smuggling Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Arctic
Glossary Index Outline Category

Edible mollusks

Bivalves

Clams	Atlantic jackknife Atlantic surf Geoduck Grooved carpet shell Hard clam Horse Mactra stultorum Blunt gaper Ocean quahog Pacific razor Venus California butterclam Senilia senilis Smooth clam Soft-shell Triangle shell Tuatua Japanese littleneck Razor clam Pod razor Ensis (razor genus) Paphies
Cockles	Common Blood Goolwa New Zealand Sydney Giant Atlantic
Mussels	Blue Mediterranean New Zealand green-lipped California Brown Asian/Philippine green Date Mytilidae (mussel family)
Oysters	Eastern Olympia Southern mud Colchester native Pacific Portuguese Windowpane Rock Sydney rock Ostra chilena/Bluff Gillardeau oysters Crassostrea ("true oyster" genus)
Scallops	Atlantic bay Great/king New Zealand Pecten jacobaeus Peruvian calico Yesso Placopecten magellanicus

Sea	Mud-flat Korean mud Chorus giganteus Bailer
Land	Cornu aspersum Helix lucorum Helix pomatia
Freshwater	Apple Nerites

Inkfish

Cuttlefish	Spineless Bottletail
Octopus	Common Atlantic white-spotted Big blue Pacific giant Southern red Mimic Amphioctopus fangsiao
Squid	New Zealand arrow Japanese flying Humboldt Neon flying

Chitons