1921.] Mestayer.—Notes on Habits and Uses op Toheroa. 85 
w . . . \ .- . ..... . H . o 
cover it with hot stones, the heat from which soon causes the adductor 
muscles to relax, so allowing the valves to spring open. Many Europeans 
make the toheroa into a soup, which is highly relished—indeed, some 
epicures consider it superior to turtle-soup. Another way of preparation 
is to fry them in butter and serve very hot; also, if carefully scalloped, 
they would probably be quite as palatable as oysters. 
There is, unfortunately, very considerable difficulty in marketing the 
toheroa alive, for they cannot entirely close their shells, so that the sea¬ 
water needed to keep their gills moist quickly escapes. Herein they differ 
from oysters, which, owing to the close fit of their valves, can retain sufficient 
water to keep them alive for several days. It is, therefore, only in places 
fairly near the beds that the living toheroa can be successfully marketed, 
and even in Auckland they are only occasionally to be seen in the fish- 
shops. This means that they must be canned before any profitable use 
can be made of them beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the beds. 
The toheroa [.Amphidesma venlricosum (Gray)]. Two-thirds natural size. 
The large northern beds are divided into four areas, and prior to the 
erection of a factory on one of these a license has to be obtained from the 
Minister of Marine. Private persons, however, have the right to take what 
they require for their own consumption in any area without charge. The 
areas are under Government control, and the quantities picked are regulated 
by the condition of the beds. Careless or excessive picking may lead to 
a license being cancelled. The regulations and conditions of license are 
published in the New Zealand Gazette. There is provision made for working 
the southern beds under somewhat similar conditions, but so far no license 
has been issued for them. 
When gathered for canning, the animals are taken out of their shells 
on the beach, and sent at once to the factory, where they are cooked and 
tinned. 
The marked difference in the physical condition of the toheroa has had 
the effect of making the summer months practically a close season, as, if 
tinned then, they very quickly go bad. Possibly this renders the official 
proclamation of a close season needless. At least one factory had to 
destroy all it had put up one summer ; but when preserved in whnter the 
toheroa kept good for quite a long time. 
At the present time there is only one factory engaged in this industry. 
My thanks are due to Mrs. W. R. B. Oliver for the original drawing of a 
toheroa. 
