Chapter III: Description of Plates (2)

~HALIOTIS RUGOSO-PLICATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 2 is about half the size of the Haliotis iris, and is known to the Maoris as the Pawa-rore or Koro-riwha. The outside is pinkish-brown, the interior being pale and highly iridescent. It is usually found with the Haliotis iris, but is not so common.

Another Haliotis, named the Virginea, is much smaller and thinner than either of the above. The interior of this is like that of the Haliotis rugoso-plicata, but the exterior is variegated, and dotted and splashed with every conceivable colour. It is rare, and usually found on the sheltered side of small islands in the open sea.

~GLYCYMERIS LATICOSTATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 3 (late Pectunculus laticostatus) is a very solid, reddish-brown shell, sometimes (especially in the immature shells) splashed with chestnut and white. The six or eight teeth near the hinge on both valves are of even size and shape. It is usually found cast up on ocean beaches. The shell attains a length and breadth of three and a-half inches. The younger shells have ridges or ribs on the outside, but these wear off with age. The Maori name is Kuakua.

~GLYCYMERIS STRIATULARIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 4 (late Pectunculus striatularis) is a small brownish shell, irregularly marked with chestnut, red, or white. The interior is whitish and brown, the exterior being smooth, and the extreme length of the shell about an inch. The markings of the hinge and teeth are similar to those of the Glycymeris laticostata.

~CARDITA AVICULINA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 5 (late Mytilicardia excavata) is an irregular-shaped white shell, with yellow, pink, or dirty brown markings. The longitudinal grooves on the outside are very rugged and deep. The shell is over an inch in length, and is found in both Islands and in Australia.

~RHYNCHONELLA NIGRICANS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 6 is an irregular-shaped, ribbed, black or dark brown shell, the left valve being much more rounded than the other. It is found up to one and a-quarter inches in breadth in the South Island and in the Bay of Plenty.

~TEREBRATELLA SANGUINEA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 7 (late Terebratella cruenta) is an orange-red, evenly ribbed, shell up to one and three-quarter inches in breadth, found in the South Island. The left valve in this shell is nearly flat.

~TEREBRATELLA RUBICUNDA~ (not shown on plate) is a smooth, pink, or dark red shell, of the same shape, but only half the size, of the Telebratella sanguinea, and found in considerable numbers in both Islands amongst stones. It is particularly plentiful amongst the stones on Rangitoto Island, in Auckland Harbour.

~MAGELLANIA LENTICULARIS~ (late Waldheimia lenticularis) is not shown in the plate, but is a large, smooth, red or brown shell, two inches long, similar in shape to the above. All the above four shells, namely, the Rhynchonella, Terebratella (2), and Magellania, belong to the Terebratula family, and the right valve is longer than the left, and there is a small round orifice at the hinge end for the foot of the animal. On account of the resemblance these shells bear to the old Roman lamp, they are known as Lamp shells.

~LITHOPHAGO TRUNCATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 8 (late Lithodomus truncatus) is a thin brown shell, covered with a black or dark brown epidermis. It is found in the North Island, and attains a length of over one and a-half inches. It is a rock borer, and can bore into very hard rock. I have seen a small one that had bored into a thick Glycymeris shell.

~VENERUPIS REFLEXA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 9 is a very irregular-shaped greyish shell, with prominent ridges on the outside. The interior is yellow, with a large blackish-purple patch. It is sometimes an inch in length, and is found in both Islands in the sand or mud, amongst rocks.

~VENERUPIS ELEGANS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 10 is a white shell, with a white interior, and up to one and a-half inches long. The ridges on one end are very prominent. This shell is found only in the North Island.

~DIVARICELLA CUMINGI~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 11 (late Lucina dentata) is a milk-white shell, sometimes 1-1/4 inches in length. The grooves or furrows on the outside bend in the centre to almost a right-angle, giving it a peculiarly beautiful appearance, and making it easily recognisable. Found in both Islands on ocean beaches and in harbours.

~VENERICARDIA AUSTRALIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 12 (late Cardita australis) is a pale brownish-white shell, with prominent ribs. Sometimes the outside is marked and splashed with reddish-brown. The interior is white, with pink or rose-coloured patches. The shell is about one and three-quarter inches wide. It is found in both Islands attached to kelp roots, which usually discolour one end of the shell. The Maori name is Purimu.

~CHIONE CRASSA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 13 (late Venus mesodesma) is a white or brown shell, one inch in length. It is found in large numbers on ocean beaches after a gale. The markings on it vary very much, and consist of radiating bands, or zigzag lines, of brown or purple brown. The interior is white, with a violet band round the margin.

~TAPES INTERMEDIA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 14 is a brown or yellowish-white shell, with a white or grey interior. The young shells are marked with brown wavy or zigzag lines. It is found in both Islands on ocean beaches and in harbours, being sometimes over two inches wide. It is known to the Maoris as Hakari.

~DOSINIA AUSTRALIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 15 is a pale, pinkish-brown shell, with a white interior, turning to violet round the margin. It is found on ocean beaches in both Islands, and attains a length of three inches. The Maoris call it Tupa or Tuangi haruru.

~DOSINIA SUBROSEA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 16 is a smooth copy of the above. It is pale pinkish-white, and found up to two inches long in the same localities as Dosinia australis. The Maori name for this shell is Hakari, the same as for Tapes intermedia.

There is another species of Dosinea (not shown in plate), about one inch long and pure white, found in the North Island. It is called Dosinia lambata.

~BARBATIA DECUSSATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 17 (late Arca decussata) is an irregular-shaped, brown or yellowish shell, the interior being white, varied with brownish-purple. It is covered with a long, brown, hairy epidermis. It is found in both Islands on ocean beaches and under rocks, and is up to three inches in length.

~SOLENOMYA PARKINSONI~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 18 is a dark brown, delicate shell, rayed with paler brown. The interior is greyish. The shining, thick, chestnut and black epidermis, which covers this shell, cannot be mistaken. It is found in both Islands on sandy banks in harbours, and is up to two inches in length. When the mantle is spread out in shallow water, this shellfish looks like a pink and purple flower.

~MODIOLARIA IMPACTA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 19 (late Crenella impacta) is a brown shell, frequently with a mixture of green near the edge. The centre is smooth, but both ends are ornamented with fine radiating ridges. The interior is highly iridescent. The shell attains a length of 1-1/2 inches, and is found in both Islands, in seaweed or grass and under rocks, both in harbours and on ocean beaches. The Maori name is Korona.

~LIMA BULLATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 20 is a white shell, about one and a-half inches long, and found in the North Island. Both it and the Lima zelandica are rare shells.

~LIMA ZELANDICA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 21 (lately known as Lima squamosa and recently renamed Lima lima) is a beautiful white shell, with eighteen ribs. The spikes on the ribs are sometimes tinted with brown. It is found at Whangaroa North, and has also been dredged up at Stewart's Island. It attains a breadth of 2-1/2 inches. Although Lima lima is the latest name given this shell, I trust the name of Lima zelandica given it by Sowerby will be adhered to. It is quite as silly to duplicate the names of the family, to describe a species, as to have a kind of horse known as "horse horse." Crepidula crepidula (Fig. 27) is a similar instance.

~SUB-EMARGINULA INTERMEDIA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 22 (late Parmophorus intermedia) is a white limpet-like shell, covered with a thin brown epidermis. It is sometimes 1-1/2 inches long, the animal being like a large yellow slug.

~SCUTUM AMBIGUUM~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 23 (late Parmophorus unguis) is a white shell, covered with a thin brown epidermis, and is sometimes over 2-1/2 inches long. The animal is like a big black slug, and, in comparison with the size of the slug, the shell is very small. A slug the size of a man's fist would have a shell about an inch long. Most shell-hunters would pass by a Scutum abiguum, not thinking it had a shell embedded in its folds. The shell is found amongst rocks in sheltered places on ocean beaches.

~SIPHONARIA OBLIQUATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 24 is like a brown limpet, about one and three-quarter inches long. On the right side is the siphonal groove, which is much more clearly defined in the Siphonaria australis (Fig. 25). The shell is found in Dunedin.

~SIPHONARIA AUSTRALIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 25 is a brown or chestnut-coloured limpet, up to one inch in length. The siphonal groove can be seen on the upper side of the figure. The best specimens I have found were on the piles of Tauranga Wharf.

~EMARGINULA STRIATULA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 26 is a whitish limpet, about an inch in length. The notch, or fissure, which is a peculiar feature of this shell, is seen on the end of the shell facing the Lima zelandica (Fig. 21).

~CREPIDULA UNGUIFORMIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 27 is a parasite shell, over an inch long, and found inside the lips of other shells. It is a thin, clear white shell, and is well named, from unguis, a finger-nail, which it much resembles. It varies in shape from nearly flat to semi-circular, according to the curve of the part of the shell on which it grows. The Crepidula shells are easily identified by the shelly internal appendage, or lamina, in which the body of the animal rests. From the peculiar effect of this lamina the Crepidula shell looks like a boat. This shell has recently been renamed Crepidula crepidula, a silly duplication, like Lima lima (Fig. 21). The Maori name for the Crepidula is the same as for a limpet, namely, Ngakahi or Ngakihi.

~CREPIDULA ACULEATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 28 (late Crepidula costata) is an oval-shaped white parasite shell, with purplish lines on the edge. It is a common shell in the North Island, and found on rocks and amongst roots of kelp, and on the outside of other shells, especially mussels. It varies in colour and shape, but is usually deeply ribbed, and attains a length of 1-1/2 inches.

There is another species of the Crepidula, viz., Monoxyla, similar in shape to the Crepidula aculeata, but white and smooth, and much smaller.

~CALYPTRAEA MACULATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 29 (late Galerus zelandicus) is a circular shell, found on rocks or kelp, and sometimes is attached to other shells, especially mussels. It attains a width of 1-1/2 inches, and is covered with a brown, hairy epidermis.

~HIPPONYX AUSTRALIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 30 is a limpet, which takes its name from its shape, being like a horse's foot. There was a colony of some hundreds of this Hipponyx under a flat rock, resting on other rocks, on the ocean side of Mount Maunganui, at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. Although there were thousands of other rocks round it, I never found the Hipponyx except under the one rock I have mentioned, and as far as I know it has never been found alive in any other part of New Zealand.

~DENTALIUM NANUM~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 31 is like a miniature white tusk of an elephant. It is about 1-1/2 inches long. It is really a limpet, which, having chosen mud and sand as its habitat, has adapted itself to its surroundings and become long and thin, instead of broad and flat, like the rock-loving limpet. It is found on the West Coast of Auckland Province, especially between Manukau and Raglan.

~ACMAEA OCTORADIATA~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 32 is one of the dozen Acmaea found in New Zealand. It is a very flat shell, and lives amongst rocks in the surf.

~ACMAEA PILEOPSIS~ (Plate IX.).--Fig. 33 is a nearly round, smooth limpet, the outside being blackish, spotted with white, and the interior bluish, with a black margin. It is about an inch across.

Amongst the other ten Acmaea found in New Zealand the most noticeable is the Acmaea fragilis, a very delicate, thin, green shell, with narrow brown bands. There is a green ring in the interior of the shell. It is found under stones, and is about 1/2 inch across.

~PATELLA RADIANS~ (Plate IX., Fig. 34), and ~PATELLA STELLIFERA~ (Fig. 35) are two representatives of the many species of beautiful limpets we have. The limpet family has not had the attention of our scientists which it merits. The shells vary so much that it is extremely difficult to classify them. In the attempt to do so, Patella radians has been subdivided into five sub-species, but even this division is not a success. We have few more beautiful or interesting shells than limpets. We have them of every shape, and from three inches in width down to microscopic specimens. The limpet resides on one spot, but moves about with the rising tide in search of the vegetation on which it lives. This it mows down with its long scythe-like tongue, and, when satisfied, it returns to rest in its favourite spot. Limpets have the reputation of being indigestible, if not poisonous, but this is due to the head not being removed before the mollusc is eaten. If the head be removed carefully, the tongue, or radula, which is usually the length of the shell itself, will come with it. The 2000 or so fine teeth found on the average limpet's tongue will quite account for the belief that the fish is poisonous, as great irritation must be caused by these sharp little teeth. The Patella stellifera is usually found in caves or sheltered places amongst rocks exposed to the ocean swell. It is always covered with a coraline growth, usually of a pinkish tint, which growth has to be removed before the markings can be seen. Stars of all shapes, regular and irregular, will be found on the spire of the Patella stellifera. There is a reputation yet to be made by the man who can classify our New Zealand limpets. The Maori name for the limpet is Ngakihi, or Ngakahi, which name is also used for the Crepidula family.

~PECTEN MEDIUS~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 1 (late Pecten laticostatus) is the well-known scallop found among the grass banks in harbours as well as in the open sea. The shells are sometimes five or even six inches across, and of all conceivable colours and mixtures of colours. The valve shown in the plate is the flat valve, which looks like a fan. The other valve, which is rounded, makes a good substitute for a scoop. This Pecten, or scallop, is the most delicate of our edible shellfish, but is never seen in our markets. The animal moves by opening its shell, slowly swallowing a large quantity of water, and in a rapid manner ejecting it, thereby pushing the shell backwards. The Maori name is Tipa.

~PECTEN CONVEXUS~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 2 is a much smaller shell than No. 1, and quite as brilliantly coloured. The valves are nearly equal in shape. It is found amongst rocks, but is usually dredged in comparatively shallow water.

~PECTEN ZELANDIAE~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 3 is a still smaller shell, and the most brilliantly coloured of our Pecten family. The valves are similar in shape, and covered with short spikes. It has only the one ear, or lug, at the hinge end, but sometimes a portion of the ear is found on the other side. This shell lives amongst rocks, or in sponges, or on the roots of kelp, in sheltered or fairly sheltered portions of open beaches. It is found attached to the rocks by a byssus, or beard.

~PINNA ZELANDICA~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 4 is generally known as the Horse Mussel. It is usually found amongst the grass, about low water mark, on sandy beaches, especially those containing a proportion of mud. The natives call it Hururoa or Kupa, and in some places it is a staple article of diet with them. This horse mussel is found in certain spots in great numbers, and is then useless for a cabinet. The collector should look for odd scattered specimens. As a rule, only about half an inch of the shell will be found protruding above the beach, in very shallow water, but in deep water more of the shell will protrude.

~MYTILUS LATUS~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 5 is the ordinary mussel, with a green epidermis, and the part near the hinge is usually eroded, as shown in the plate. It grows to a considerable size in New Zealand, being sometimes 8 inches in length, and is found in enormous quantities in favoured localities on rocks or attached by its beard in clusters to old cockle and other shells on the banks. About twenty years ago hundreds of acres of banks between the town of Tauranga and the sea were in one season colonised by mussel spawn, and although the mussel was before that date a rare thing on these banks, yet after the colonisation the banks were simply a mass of mussels, and the water, being only from one to two fathoms deep at low spring tide, they were easily procurable. On the other hand, banks near Kati Kati Heads, that were covered a few years ago, are now without mussels. This is probably due to some disease breaking out through overcrowding. The Mytilus edulis (not shown on plate) is a purplish shell, of similar shape and habits to the above, but much smaller in size. The Maori name for a mussel is Kuku or Porope or Tore-tore or Kutai, and for the smaller mussels Kukupara or Purewa or Toriwai.

~MYTILUS MAGELLANICUS~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 6 is a bluish mussel, with prominent ribs, as shown in the plate. The interior is white, and the shell is found up to three inches in length.

~VOLSELLA AUSTRALIS~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 7 (late Modiola australis) is a rough-looking, uneven shell, of a pale chestnut colour. It usually has a hairy-looking growth near the edge, as shown in the plate. It is found up to four inches in length.

There are two other of the Volsella family in New Zealand, neither of which are illustrated. The Volsella fluviatilis, a shiny, black mussel, shaped like the Edulis, and about 1-1/2 inches long, found in brackish water, is the most common. The inside is bluish-white, and purplish round the margin.

~OSTREA ANGASI~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 8 is a mud oyster, of which those dredged at Stewart's Island are the largest we have. Fine specimens were found in Ohiwa Harbour prior to the Tarawera eruption of 1886, but the deposit from that eruption appears for the time being to have destroyed them. There must be some large banks of this oyster in the Bay of Plenty, judging by the number of dead shells washed up in places; but, although I many times used the dredge while in Tauranga, I never had the good fortune to find one of the banks. Cartloads of the shells were at times washed up on the beach between the town of Tauranga and the entrance to the harbour.

The best known oyster in New Zealand is the Auckland rock oyster, the Ostrea glomerata (not shown in the plate), which is familiar to all who visit the seashore in the North. The Maori name for the rock oyster is Tio, and for the mud oyster Tiopara.

~PLACUNANOMIA ZELANDICA~ (Plate X.).--Fig. 9 is of the family known in England as the pepper and salt oyster. The lower valve is flat and has the large oval opening, shown in the plate, through which the foot of the animal protrudes and holds the shell on to the rock. The shell is thin and fragile, and is found in both Islands. Another shell of the same family, the Anomia walteri (not shown on plate), is found at the Bay of Islands, and is usually coloured bright yellow or orange.

~MUREX RAMOSUS~, the last figure, is the latest addition to our New Zealand marine shells, and is described with the others of the Murex family on Plate II., and on page 16.

Page
Argonauta nodosa 14
Spirula peroni 15]

Page
1--Murex zelandicus 15
2--Murex octogonus 16
3--Murex eos 16
4--Trophon stangeri 16
5--Trophon ambiguus 16
6--Trophon cheesemani 17
7--Ancilla australis 17
8 and 9--Purpura succincta 17
10--Purpura scobina 17
11--Purpura haustrum 17
12--Scaphella pacifica 18
13--Scaphella gracilis 18
14--Mitra melaniana 18]

Page
Dolium variegatum 18
Lotorium rubicundum 19]

Page
1--Siphonalia dilatata 19
2--Siphonalia mandarina 19
3--Siphonalia nodosa 19
4--Struthiolaria papulosa 19
5--Struthiolaria vermis 20
6--Euthria lineata 20
7--Cominella lurida 21
8--Cominella huttoni 21
9--Euthria flavescens 20
10--Euthria vittata 20
11--Cominella maculata 21
12--Cominella testudinea 21
13--Cominella virgata 22
14--Cominella nassoides 22]

Page
1--Lotorium olearium 22
2--Apollo argus 22
3--Apollo australasia 22
4--Lotorium spengleri 22
5--Semi-cassis pyrum 23
6--Semi-cassis labiata 23
7--Lotorium cornutum 23]

Page
1--Calliostoma tigris 23
2--Calliostoma selectum 24
3--Calliostoma pellucidum 24
4--Calliostoma punctulatum 24
5--Trochus viridis 24
6--Trochus tiaratus 24
7--Ethalia zelandica 25
8--Natica zelandica 25
9--Nerita nigra 25
10--Amphibola crenata 26
11--Monodonta subrostrata 26
12--Monodonta aethiops 26
13--Monodonta nigerrima 26
14--Monodonta lugubris 26
15--Turbo granosus 26
16 and 17--Turbo helicinus 27
18--Astralium sulcatum 27
19--Astralium heliotropium 27]

Page
1--Janthina exigua 28
2--Janthina fragilis 28
3--Cantharidus iris 28
4--Taron dubius 29
5--Litorina cincta 29
6--Litorina mauritiana 29
7--Cantharidus tenebrosus 28
8--Cantharidus purpuratus 28
9--Cantharidus fasciatus 29
10--Daphnella lymneiformis 29
11 & 12--Surcula novae-zelandiae 29
13--Potamides sub-carinatus 30
14--Solidula alba 30
15 & 16--Surcula cheesemani 30
17--Scalaria zelebori 30
18--Scalaria tenella 30
19--Potamides bicarinatus 30
20--Terebra tristis 30
21--Tenagodes weldii 30
22--Trophon duodecimus 30
23--Trophon plebeius 31
24--Tricotropis inornata 31
25--Marinula filholi 31
26--Tralia australis 31
27--Turritella vittata 31
28--Turritella rosea 31
29--Trivia australis 31
30--Cylichna striata 31
31--Haminea zelandia 32
32--Bulla quoyi 32]

Page
1--Barnea similis 32
2--Pholadidea tridens 32
3--Panopea zelandica 32
4--Cochlodesma angasi 32
5--Corbula zelandica 33
6--Saxicava arctica 33
7--Myodora striata 33
8--Myodora boltoni 33
9--Mactra discors 33
10--Mactra aequilatera 33
11--Standella ovata 33
12--Standella elongata 34
13--Resania lanceolata 34
14--Zenatia acinaces 34
15--Psammobia stangeri 34
16--Solenotellina nitida 34
17--Psammobia lineolata 34
18--Solenotellina spenceri 34
19--Tellina glabrella 35
20--Tellina disculus 35
21--Tellina alba 35
22--Tellina strangei 35
23--Mesodesma ventricosa 35
24--Atactodea subtriangulata 36
25--Mesodesma novae-zelandiae 36
26--Chione costata 36
27--Chione stutchburyi 36
28--Chione oblonga 36
29--Anaitis yatei 37]

Page
1--Haliotis iris 37
2--Haliotis rugoso-plicata 37
3--Glycymeris laticostata 37
4--Glycymeris striatularis 37
5--Cardita aviculina 38
6--Rhynchonella nigricans 38
7--Terebratella sanguinea 38
8--Lithophago truncata 38
9--Venerupis reflexa 39
10--Venerupis elegans 39
11--Divaricella cumingi 39
12--Venericardia australis 39
13--Chione crassa 39
14--Tapes intermedia 39
15--Dosinia australis 40
16--Dosinia subrosea 40
17--Barbatia decussata 40
18--Solenomya parkinsoni 40
19--Modiolaria impacta 40
20--Lima bullata 41
21--Lima zelandica 41
22--Sub-emarginula intermedia 41
23--Scutum ambiguum 41
24--Siphonaria obliquata 41
25--Siphonaria australis 41
26--Emarginula striatula 42
27--Crepidula unguiformis 42
28--Crepidula aculeata 42
29--Calyptraea maculata 42
30--Hipponyx australis 42
31--Dentalium nanum 43
32--Acmaea octoradiata 43
33--Acmaea pileopsis 43
34--Patella radians 43
35--Patella stellifera 43]

Page
1--Pecten medius 44
2--Pecten convexus 44
3--Pecten zelandiae 45
4--Pinna zelandica 45
5--Mytilus latus 45
6--Mytilus magellanicus 46
7--Volsella australis 46
8--Ostrea angasi 46
9--Placunanomia zelandica 46
10--Murex ramosus 46]

End of Project Gutenberg's Beautiful Shells of New Zealand, by E. G. B. Moss

<pre id="pg-footer">