Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

COOK'S TURBAN SHELL

(Cookia sulcata).

This shell grows to 3 in. in height and is related to the circular saw. This fish is quite common, and lives under rocky ledges at low tide, in clean water along the coasts. In life the shell is dull and encrusted, but when the outer coating flakes off, a beautiful, pearly under-layer is revealed. The aperture is stoppered with a strong, shelly, oval operculum. Maori names for this shell are karaka, toitoi, and ngaruru. It was much used by oldtime Maoris for the manufacture of fish hooks.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Co-creator

Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.