“Mesodesma austral, Gmeline, 1790. Plate 59, fig. 17.
Shell moderately large, oblong-oval, transverse, solid, subequilateral, rounded at both ends, convex, compressed towards the margin, whitish. Beaks not prominent, convex, approximate. Anterior end sometimes a little longer than the posterior, narrowly rounded, the dorsal margin straight, very slowly descending; posterior end a little higher, regularly rounded, the dorsal margin faintly convex, slowly descending; basal margin straight. Escutcheon not distinctly marked off. Sculpture consisting of fine concentric lines, slightly lamellate at the posterior end. Epidermis thin, horn-colour. Colour whitish, very often with rust-stains at the dorsal anterior part. Interior white, porcellanous, with faint radiate striation at the margins. Hinge short and broad, heavy; right valve with 1 thin and low cardinal lamella in front of the resilifer and 2 lateral teeth in front and behind, those near the centre very stout, minutely granulose, the outer and upper ones very small; left valve with a stout nearly vertical cardinal and 2 strong oblique short triangular lateral teeth. Resilifer vertical, narrow, much produced downward posteriorly. Ligament feeble, internal, posterior, triangularly produced downward behind the resilium and sometimes partly separated from it by a small lamella. Adductor-scars deeply impressed, unequal, the anterior smaller, pyriform, the posterior roundish. Pallial line deep, the inner part of the disc very thick; the sinus very small, triangular.
Length, 60 mm.; height, 35 mm.; diameter, 21 mm.
Hab. – North and South Islands; Chatham Islands; on sandy flats between tide-marks; common. Brought to England by Captain Cook.
Maori. – Pipi, kokota, (teste Hutton).
Fossil. – Miocene and Pliocene.”
(Suter, 1913)
Paphies australis or pipi (from the Māori language) is a bivalve mollusc of the family Mesodesmatidae, endemic to New Zealand. [1]
The pipi is a shellfish with a solid white, elongated symmetrical shell with the apex at the middle. It is covered by a thin yellow periostracum. Its closest relative, the tuatua (Paphies subtriangulata), has an asymmetrical shell, with an off-centre hinge.
The pipi is abundant on flat sandy beaches, in sandy and silty mud in estuaries, and harbours where there is considerable water flow.
By releasing a thread of mucus, which makes them more buoyant, they are able to float in the water column and move to new locations. Where they find good living conditions, their numbers can exceed more than 1000 individuals per square metre.[2]
Pipi are edible and easily collected for food; traditional cooking methods include boiling and making into fritters. They are often used as the "clams" in clam chowder. The harvest limit in New Zealand is 50 per person per day, and although a minimum size is not stipulated in the regulations, only larger pipi should be taken. For Māori, pipi are a traditional food resource, and in earlier times were gathered in specific flax baskets made for this purpose. Smaller specimens would fall between the woven strips and back into the beds to grow as the basket was gently swirled through the water.
Maximum length is 83 millimetres (3.3 in), and height 51 millimetres (2.0 in).
Paphies australis or pipi (from the Māori language) is a bivalve mollusc of the family Mesodesmatidae, endemic to New Zealand.
The pipi is a shellfish with a solid white, elongated symmetrical shell with the apex at the middle. It is covered by a thin yellow periostracum. Its closest relative, the tuatua (Paphies subtriangulata), has an asymmetrical shell, with an off-centre hinge.
The pipi is abundant on flat sandy beaches, in sandy and silty mud in estuaries, and harbours where there is considerable water flow.
By releasing a thread of mucus, which makes them more buoyant, they are able to float in the water column and move to new locations. Where they find good living conditions, their numbers can exceed more than 1000 individuals per square metre.
