The best known oyster in New Zealand is the Auckland rock oyster, the Ostrea glomerata (not shown in the plate), which is familiar to all who visit the seashore in the North. The Maori name for the rock oyster is Tio, and for the mud oyster Tiopara.
PLACUNANOMIA ZELANDICA (Plate X.).—Fig. 9 is of the family known in England as the pepper and salt oyster. The lower valve is flat and has the large oval opening, shown in the plate, through which the foot of the animal protrudes and holds the shell on to the rock. The shell is thin and fragile, and is found in both Islands. Another shell of the same family, the Anomia walteri (not shown on plate), is found at the Bay of Islands, and is usually coloured bright yellow or orange.
MUREX RAMOSUS, the last figure, is the latest addition to our New Zealand marine shells, and is described with the others of the Murex family on Plate II., and on page 16.
PLATE I.
| Page | |
| Argonauta nodosa | 14 |
| Spirula peroni | 15 |