Austrovenus stutchburyi
species of mollusc
Austrovenus stutchburyi, commonly known as the New Zealand cockle or New Zealand little neck clam, is a marine bivalve in the family Veneridae that occurs only in New Zealand. Its Māori name is tuangi in the North Island or tuaki in the South Island. The shell is between 15 to 65 mm (0.59 to 2.56 in) in length, but may reach up to 90 mm (3.5 in). The outside is dirty white; the inside is porcelain white and often has purple stains. A. stutchburyi is widespread throughout the coasts of New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands and subantarctic Auckland Islands. It is found in the intertidal-to-low-tide zone in muddy and fine sands. A. stutchburyi feeds via suspension feeding, where food particles are filtered out of the water. The species is often harvested for food, active commercial harvesting occurring in the Dunedin and Tasman regions. It is a traditional food source for Māori people, who have an archaeological history of harvesting A. stutchburyi and have customary fishing rights to harvest it in areas of cultural significance.
Spawning occurs in spring and summer; the larvae (juvenile stage) attach to a surface within twenty days.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Austrovenus stutchburyi” as species of mollusc. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3014371. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Austrovenus stutchburyi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.