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Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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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.

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WHELK, SPECKLED

(Cominella adspersa).

This and several other local species are somewhat related to the English whelk. These fish are carnivorous scavengers and may be seen clustered around a cockle on mud flats, one doing the job of boring into the shell of the cockle, the others hanging on to share in the feast. It is whitish, speckled with brown, and is yellow inside the aperture. It grows to 2 to 2 ½ in. in height and is abundant in the North Island. It was known to the Maoris as kawari.

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

Co-creator

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