Whats happened to the Tuatuas??
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Briny Bar
Forum Description: The place for general chat on saltwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=87266
Printed Date: 21 Jun 2026 at 11:49am
Topic: Whats happened to the Tuatuas??
Posted By: Equity
Subject: Whats happened to the Tuatuas??
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 10:24pm
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Hey guys, Today I went Tuatua hunting at Mount Maunganui. The last time I went was just before Christmas and the pipi beds at low tide went for about 500 meters. It was impossible not to get them and we soon had our bags full and were able to go off Terakihi fishing. Today we were taking the boat out again and so I decided to go grab some more. Went out at low tide to the same place we had gone just before Christmas. Not a single pipi to be found....waded out to my knees / waist and we couldn't find any, walked about a km without any success. Instead, there were heaps of them (not as many as youd find in a bed but every few meters or so there would be a couple) on top of the sand, not trying to bury themselves..then we came across this massive amount all in one area, all on top of the sand, all not trying to bury themselves. They seemed alive but none that I saw had their tongues out (I broke open a couple and they were definitely alive - still holding on) Anyway, collected a few for fishing and went home to open them. They look quite funny...a really bright yellow/ orange colour and dont look very well. I know mussels can get sick during bad weather and spew their guts, and they often get thin or fat...but yeah I wonder whats going on with the pipis. I googled it, but cant find anything. I know that theres alot of toxins around at the moment - which is why we cant eat them, but I dunno what the story is here. Does anyone know why the pipi beds would be gone now, why there would be heaps of pipis just sitting on the sand, or why the colour/look is strange?? heres a pic of one....dunno if it shows too well Thanks :)  |
Replies:
Posted By: Zambezi
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 10:26pm
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I have no idea, but I bet I someone will bring up the Rena. ------------- A man’s comfort in life can be measured by the quality of the toilet paper he uses to wipe his arse. |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 10:39pm
It's because of the Rena!  Seriously, i wouldn't have a clue though. |
Posted By: Equity
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 10:50pm
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haha Rena was ages ago - and there hasnt been bad weather to stir anything up from the Rena. I dunno what it could've been since Christmas till now - a period of pretty good weather. I dunno if its a seasonal thing, or pollution, or if the toxins are harming them? Hopefully some pros on here that know a thing or two. Thought it was worth a crack making a thread... |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 10:51pm
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Absolutely worth it. Thats what the site is for. |
Posted By: mowerman
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2013 at 11:01pm
| maybe the water temp is up and a lack of oxygen in the water ? or algae bloom ? |
Posted By: wayno
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 12:16pm
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I find a lot washed up on the tide line at Ohope beach but they have chew marks on the end of the shells and the tongue partially bitten off from snapper feeding on the deep beds. Never seen the yellow/orange colour in any down this way though. They also seem to move beds here as well, can get out into the water and fill a bucket in one spot and go back a couple of weeks later and find none in the same place - shifting sands/tides maybe? ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">  To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid. |
Posted By: Jaapie
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 12:44pm
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Bit of a long shot, but you reckon there might be a direct correlation of crook shellfish with increased rumblings at White Island.
Yep, it is very far away (50km's +) but increased thermal activity does trigger changes on the shoreline and a possible increase in surrounding temperature might be a factor.
I'm not sure of the geographic plates where they join up to/from White, but seeping heat might be triggering something.
Obviously it's just a theory, but until someone can be certain, let's toss this into the ring.  ------------- "Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught,will we realize that we cannot eat money" - 19th Century Indian Creed |
Posted By: Zambezi
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 1:24pm
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NoSchist should be able to add to that theory. ------------- A man’s comfort in life can be measured by the quality of the toilet paper he uses to wipe his arse. |
Posted By: GrizzlyKiwi
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 1:59pm
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we used to regularly get big ones at Waihi beach when i was a kid but when i last went out for some the size was not what i was expecting! they were way smaller than what we used to get. |
Posted By: Tonto2
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 2:34pm
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Tua tua or pipi, 2 different things aren't they? As far as I know pipis we used to collect in the Waikato river were always yellow colour as opposed to Tua tuas which are usually white and more fleshy with a slightly different shaped shell. I will happily be corrected by any experts on NZ shellfish  ------------- slowly going where everyone else has already been |
Posted By: jaypeegee
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 2:44pm
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Is that the cheese and bacon flavoured one? ------------- "You don't have to be smart to laugh at a fart, but you have to be stupid not to." |
Posted By: Jaapie
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 3:19pm
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[QUOTE=Tonto2] Tua tua or pipi, 2 different things aren't they?[/QUOTE]
Yep, quite correct!
Both are bi-valve molluscs.
Tuatua are bigger than pipi's and both are classified as true molluscs.
No expert but I do know this. ------------- "Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught,will we realize that we cannot eat money" - 19th Century Indian Creed |
Posted By: Equity
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 6:54pm
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Yeah I do know theyre different. I just tend to use the label willy nilly as I cant tell them apart. I do know that they dont usually look like they did this time!! Huge difference in colour. White islands quite a way away...temperature of the sea around papamoa has actually decreased recently.. Hmmm |
Posted By: letsgetem
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 7:23pm
| I alse tried to find Tutatuas, on Pukehina beach - where in all previous years, have found oodles. Couldnt find any. |
Posted By: Rusky
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 8:22pm
| Could be spawning or getting ready to. |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2013 at 9:32pm
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That looks like a tuatua to me, pipi have a more symmetric shape. Dunno about the colour though I haven't had a good pipi or tuatua fest in years. |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 12:06am
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I dunno Smudge.... a tuatua is usually a sharper angle shell, much more acute in the hinge angle there.... I would've called that for a pipi myself, and have seen heaps pretty much most really) pipis with that colour inside. You generally get tuatuas in open ocean beach sand (the shellfish inside is usually white), pipis tend to be in more estuarine areas. Cockles even more so. ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: Equity
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 5:34pm
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They are definately a very diffent colour to the ones we got before xmas. Any idea why theyd just be on the top of the water? and not try dig them selves down?> |
Posted By: Starnsy
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 5:39pm
| Im with Capt A.. I would call that a Pipi rather than a Tuatua, like we get off Cooks Beach. Would have said the Tuatua has a more triangular shape to the shell.. |
Posted By: Skonski
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 5:47pm
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I was told that tuatua have two unequal angles on their shells, whereas pipi are more even on the two angles. I woulda called that a tuatua.....just to add to the confusion haha
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 6:47pm
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Tuatua definately have the wonky shape and pipi are even shaped. Having said that I'm not 100% sure it's a tuatua and I still don't know about the colour. |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 10:27pm
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It is kinda hard to tell from the angle really.... if we could see the other side of the shell, that'd clear it right up. These are tuatuas from Papamoa....  ....... and they would appear to me to have a much sharper (or acute, or steeper, whatever) angle to the shell than the one pictured at the top of the thread.... but like I said that first pic may have been at an odd angle to mess with the perspective.... ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 10:29pm
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Doesn't your X-Ray vison work on angles? Superheroes pffft ... not what they used to be! |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 23 Jan 2013 at 10:49pm
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Listen pal, you only get to have the super x-ray vision options if you are superheroing in the big jobs, like the US or places like that. My assigned powers for NZ and bits of the antipodes are the ability to jump over fairly small stones, (two times out of three), and pointing out the bleedin' obvious. So dere! :-) ...and a few other super secret powers that I am not allowed to admit to..... ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2013 at 6:07am
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That definitely looks like a pipi to me as well and that would explain the yellow colour of the flesh. Look at the difference in the shell shape of the tuatuas in the photo above compared to the first photo, big difference. ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: JasonEdward62
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2015 at 9:58am
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Put the two together and they're chalk and cheese. Tua tua almost triangular except for rounded edge opposite hinge. Pipis much closer to oval... old post but still relevant to me so... Toxic shellfish poinsoning... anyone have direct experience of it? I always suspect the health authorities are going to be very conservative and tell us not to eat shellfish when there is only a tiny tiny chance (or no real chance) of poisoning. I'm tempted to try a few. wait an hour or so, then get stuck into them if I have no problems. Am I stupid to consider such an experiment? |
Posted By: JasonEdward62
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2015 at 9:59am
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NB So I'm sure the yellow pic is pipi and later pick is a nice catch of tuatuas. But I'm always ready to be told I'm full of it :-) |
Posted By: Gowest
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2015 at 10:07am
Maybe  Id give it a few hours then go nuts mate.
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JasonEdward62 wrote:Posted By: mmmWord
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2015 at 3:31pm
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Where did you get them from? There are a couple of health warnings on here: http://www.ttophs.govt.nz/health_warnings" rel="nofollow - http://www.ttophs.govt.nz/health_warnings (BoP specific) and here http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safety/hunting-collecting-fishing/seafood-gatherers/" rel="nofollow - http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safety/hunting-collecting-fishing/seafood-gatherers/ (national) I wouldn't be mucking with those restrictions if I were you, unless you find breathing to be a bore. http://www.epi.alaska.gov/id/dod/psp/ParalyticShellfishPoisoningFactSheet.pdf%20" rel="nofollow - http://www.epi.alaska.gov/id/dod/psp/ParalyticShellfishPoisoningFactSheet.pdf |
Posted By: bazza
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2015 at 4:06pm
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The shellfish ( not sure if they were tuatuas or pipis but were mostly smaller than expected ) from the estuary at Cooks Beach in January were that colour & we ate them without suffering any noticeable affects. ------------- When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!! |
Posted By: Steps
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2015 at 9:29am
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One has the hinge in the middle, the other has it to one side..As to which is which.. never bothered to remember since otherwise both for all intense and purposes the same. As to colour.. yes rem often having a deep colour when we used to get them of pakiri beach and mangawhai sand banks back up in the estuary back in the 60s... and back then they where much larger than what we see today. |
Posted By: Glaucus
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2015 at 11:49am
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Haha I'd say they are Tuatua. The hinge of the pipi is more centered making it more symmetrical and seen from the inside of the shell that triangular/squared edge of the tuatua does look rounder :) |
Posted By: petethemeat
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2015 at 4:49pm
Nah, have a go! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=11085769" rel="nofollow - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=11085769 -------------
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Posted By: JasonEdward62
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2015 at 6:14pm
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Well...in the week-ends I quite often have difficulty walking...paralytic? Nah but some similar... But yeah nah yeah - I might have to take it a bit seriously...but surely our health authorities are so damn risk averse i.e. of saying it's OK when there's that 1 in a trillion chance someone might get slightly sick  and blame them...And that was 2012... But thanks PeteTheMeat I did a quick google and came up with Jack yet THAT story does seem to indicate I should show a little caution ... cheers mate Anyone had the poison themselves? |
Posted By: guided1
Date Posted: 11 Feb 2017 at 6:24pm
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We went to Papamoa to get Tua Tua...lots of small ones this year...will keep trying up and down to see if there are any bigger ones...difference between Pipi and Tua Tua is where the tongue comes out...Tua Tua out the end and Pipi out the side...used to be able to get Pipi without a boat...not now....pretty sad...nothing is the same as back in the 1960s...i remember all the Kina around Rabbit Island back in the 60s...was like a huge brown carpet...big buggers too.... |