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.

MUSSEL, COMMON

(Perna canaliculus).

This is the large greenish mussel so abundant in the North Island. In the South Island the common species is Mytilus edulis aoteanus, which is smaller and bluish-black. The largest and finest mussels are fished commercially from deep-water beds off Coromandel, Hauraki Gulf. Maori names for mussels are kuku and kutai.

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

Co-creator

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