View source for Biology:Paphies ventricosa

{{Short description|Species of bivalve}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Toheroa at Oreti Beach.jpg
| image_caption = Toheroa (''Paphies ventricosa'') at Oreti Beach, Southland,  New Zealand
| genus = Paphies
| species = ventricosa
| authority = (Gray, 1843) 
}}

'''''Paphies ventricosa''''', or '''toheroa''' (a Māori word meaning "long tongue"),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov11_04Rail-t1-body-d18.html|work=The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 4 (July 1, 1936)|title=The Toheroa — New Zealand's Exclusive Shell-fish|author= Edward Samuel}}</ref> is a large bivalve [[Biology:Mollusc|mollusc]] of the family [[Biology:Mesodesmatidae|Mesodesmatidae]], endemic to [[Earth:New Zealand|New Zealand]]. 

==Distribution==
It is found in both the North and South Islands, but the main habitat is the west coast of the North Island. The best grounds are wide fine-sand beaches where there are extensive sand-dunes, enclosing freshwater, which percolates to the sea, there promoting the growth of [[Biology:Diatom|diatom]]s and [[Earth:Plankton|plankton]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stace |first1=Glenys |title=The elusive toheroa |date=1991 |url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-elusive-toheroa/ |work=New Zealand Geographic |accessdate=1 August 2018}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Paphies ventricosa.webm|thumb|Video of a toheroa burying itself in the sand at Oreti Beach, showing the foot and the siphon]]
The toheroa is a very large shellfish with a solid white, elongated shell with the apex at the middle. Maximum length is 117&nbsp;mm, height 81&nbsp;mm, and thickness 38&nbsp;mm.

==Human use==

Toheroa are a traditional food for Māori. Toheroa beds were resources that sometimes led to wars, and the shellfish was translocated across New Zealand using {{lang|mi|pōhā}} (kelp bags) made from southern bull kelp (''[[Biology:Durvillaea poha|Durvillaea poha]]'').<ref name="SunNews1">{{Cite news|url=https://sunlive.co.nz/news/179488-maori-shellfish-project-wins-scholarship.html|title=Maori shellfish project wins scholarship|date=13 May 2018|work=SunLive|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="Secrets">{{citeq|Q114871191|pp=72-77}}</ref>

The toheroa has long been a popular seafood, often made into a greenish soup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clandavidsonusa.com/Miscellaneous-PDFs/Toheroa%20Soup%20Recipe.pdf|title=Toheroa Soup}}</ref> The soup became an international delicacy after the Royal Tour of Prince Edward in 1920, becoming popular in restaurants in New Zealand, the {{wipe|United Kingdom}} and {{wipe|Australia}}. An industry developed around toheroa, including large-scale canning factories.<ref name="Secrets"/>

By the 1950s, toheroa populations had become over-exploited, and there has been a ban on harvesting (except for limited customary purposes) since 1979. However, numbers have not recovered since 1979, due to illegal poaching, poorly policed customary harvesting, vehicle driving on beaches, pollution, reduction in fresh water coming onto beaches, and gas bubble disease.<ref>{{cite news |title=Decades of fishing bans have not rescued seafood delicacy toheroa |first=Will |last=Harvie |url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/110671140/decades-of-fishing-bans-have-not-rescued-seafood-delicacy-toheroa |newspaper=Stuff |date=4 March 2019 |accessdate=4 March 2019}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Toheroa cuisine
|width=180
|align=center
|File:Can, food (AM 2007.41.2-1).jpg
 |{{center|}}
|File:Can,_food_(AM_2007.41.1-2).jpg
 |{{center|}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070221053405/http://www.mollusca.co.nz/checklist/checklist_frameset.htm Checklist of New Zealand Mollusca]
* Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 {{ISBN|0-00-216906-1}}

{{commercial molluscs}}
{{Edible molluscs}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1747523}}

[[Category:Commercial molluscs]]
[[Category:Mesodesmatidae]]

{{Sourceattribution|Paphies ventricosa}}