Page:Beautiful·Shells·of·New·Zealand-Moss-1908.pdf/43

 is curved and comes to a finer point. Its length is about two inches. I have found over a dozen live specimens washed up on Buffalo Beach, in Mercury Bay.

TELLINA GLABRELLA (Plate VIII.).—Fig. 19 is a smooth white, or pale yellow, shell, 3 inches in length, with a thin brown epidermis on the outer edge. The interior is chalky white. It is found on ocean beaches, but is also common on cockle banks in harbours. It lives some inches below the surface. Dead shells are found in considerable numbers, but the live ones are rare. The Maoris call this shell Hohehohe or Ku waru or Peraro. The name Hohehohe is also given to the Panopea (Plate VIII., Fig. 3).

TELLINA DISCULUS (Plate VIII.).—Fig. 20 is a clean smooth yellowish-white shell, with a bright yellow centre, the interior being the same colour as the exterior. Its length is 1½ inches, and it is found only in the North Island.

TELLINA ALBA (Plate VIII.).—Fig. 21 is a very thin, flat, nearly transparent, glistening white shell, the interior being the same colour. Its length is 2½ inches, and it is found on sandy ocean beaches in both Islands. The native name for this shell is Hohehohe, which name is also used for the Tellina glabrella.

TELLINA STRANGEI (Plate VIII.).—Fig. 22 (late Tellina subovata) is a whitish shell, similar to the Tellina alba, but more globose. It is under an inch long.

MESODESMA VENTRICOSA (Plate VIII.).—Fig. 23 (late Paphia ventricosa) is an opaque white, solid, smooth shell, found in the North Island, especially on the ocean beach near Kaipara. It is one of the many useful food molluscs we have. In the Kaipara district the natives take horses and ploughs on to the beach, and plough up the Mesodesma ventricosa like potatoes. Under the native name of Toheroa, a factory at Dargaville preserves these bivalves in tins. The specimen photographed was only a half-grown shell. In the Bay of Plenty I have found this shell seven inches long and extremely solid and heavy, and I am inclined to think from the shape and structure of the valve that the Bay of Plenty Mesodesma is different from the Ventricosa; but I never secured a live one while in Tauranga.