Austrovenus stutchburyi

Austrovenus stutchburyi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Venerida
Superfamily:	Veneroidea
Family:	Veneridae
Genus:	Austrovenus
Species:	A. stutchburyi
Binomial name
	Austrovenus stutchburyi; (Wood, 1828)
Synonyms
	List Austrovenus crassitesta (Finlay, 1924) ; Austrovenus stutchburyi f. crassitesta (Finlay, 1924) ; Chione aucklandica Powell, 1932 ; Chione crassitesta Finlay, 1924 ; Chione stutchburyi (Wood, 1828) ; Venericardia zelandica Potiez & Michaud, 1844 ; Venus (Chione) macleayana Tenison Woods, 1879 ; Venus dieffenbachii Gray, 1843 ; Venus macleayana Tenison Woods, 1879 ; Venus stutchburii Wood, 1828 ; Venus stutchburyi Wood, 1828 ; Venus zelandica Quoy & Gaimard, 1835 ;

Austrovenus stutchburyi, common name the New Zealand cockle or New Zealand little neck clam, is an edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. Its Māori name is tuangi (North Island) or tuaki (South Island).^[1]

Description

The shell is 15 to 65mm in length, but can occasionally exceed 90mm.^[2] The outer surface of the shell has a dirty white colour and there may also be rust coloured stains. On the interior, the shell is coloured white and is frequently stained purple towards the corner, with the purple occasionally colouring most of the interior.^[3] The shell varies substantially in its thickness and shape. The outer surface has distinctive ribs running down and across the shell, with those running down the shell becoming weaker towards the margin. The hinge is rather wide. On the interior of the shell there are circular scars where the adductor muscles, muscles that close the shell, attach to the shell.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

Cockles live in harbours and estuaries in New Zealand. They live in the subtidal to intertidal zone, and when they are in the intertidal zone they live between the low-tide mark and the mid-tide mark. Cockles are unable to survive above the mid-tide mark because of the increased exposure time. Cockles prefer to live in soft mud and fine sand ; however, they can be suffocated by extremely fine sand. For this reason, they mainly live in areas with a large grain size. The cockles bury 2 to 3 cm under the sand.

Predation and parasites

The cockle is known to be infected by the larval stage of two species of the trematodes Curtuteria australis and Acanthoparyphium. These species are parasites that infects cockles and damage the cockles ability to burrow into the mud, causing it to lay exposed on the surface where they are eaten by birds, with C. australis targetting the South Island oystercatcher specifically. Once the larvae have been ingested by the birds, they lay eggs, which are excreted and consumed by whelks, who in turn are a food source for cockles.^[4]

Lifespan

If not eaten by birds or humans, Austrovenus stutchburyi can live up to 20 years.^[5]

In a human context

Cockles are a traditional food source for Māori. Historically, cockle beds were managed due to the risk of overharvesting, and rāhui were often placed in areas as a measure to allow cockle populations to recover.^[5] Cockle shells were traditionally used as tweezers for hair removal.^[5]

References

^ "Cockles and Pipis, alive, alive-oh" (Press release). 4 January 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b Beu, A G; Raine, J I (2009). "Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990)". GNS Science. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025.
^ Cook, S C (2009). "Class Bivalvia". New Zealand Coastal Marine Invertebrates 1. Canterbury University Press. pp. 520–521. ISBN 9781877257605.
^ Leung, T L F; Poulin, R (2007). "Interactions between parasites of the cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi : hitch-hikers, resident-cleaners, and habitat-facilitators". Parasitology. 134 (2): 247–255. doi:10.1017/S0031182006001478. ISSN 0031-1820.
^ ^a ^b ^c Vennell, Robert (5 October 2022). Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand's Native Sea Creatures. HarperCollins UK. pp. 62–67. ISBN 978-1-77554-179-0. LCCN 2021388548. Wikidata Q114871191.