burrows in the clean sandy beaches
- Size
- Shell: 5–8 cm
- Lifespan
- 5–10 years
- Diet
- Filter-feeder - consumes plankton, algae, and organic particles from the water column. Lives buried in sandy beaches and estuaries, using a muscular foot to burrow and two siphons to feed and breathe. Popular recreational shellfish, harvested for food. Populations can be affected by overharvesting and sedimentation.
- Habitat
- Sandy beaches and estuaries throughout New Zealand, from the mid-tide level down to the shallow subtidal. They prefer clean, sandy sediment with a good flow of oxygenated water.
- Range
- New Zealand - found throughout the North and South Islands, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands on sandy beaches and estuaries from the mid-tide level down to the shallow subtidal. Most common in sheltered bays and harbours with clean, sandy sediment and good water flow.
- Endemism
- Endemic
- Main Threats
- Over-harvesting for food, sedimentation from coastal development and land clearance, pollution from urban and agricultural runoff, and habitat loss from estuary reclamation and coastal development. Populations are managed with catch limits but remain vulnerable to localised overharvesting.
- Population
- Not Threatened. Pipi are common on sandy beaches throughout New Zealand, though local populations can be affected by overharvesting and sedimentation. They are a popular recreational shellfish.
- Conservation Status
- Not Threatened
The smooth, white, wedge-shaped bivalve of the sandy beach. A clam that tastes like summer.
The Pipi has a thin, fragile shell that is a clean, creamy white on the outside and a pearly, iridescent white on the inside. The shell is wedge-shaped, with the hinge at the pointed end. They live just below the surface of the sand, with only their two, long, joined siphons sticking up into the water. A clam that breathes through straws.
These animals are the filter-feeders of the sandy shore. They draw water in through one siphon, filter out the plankton and algae, and squirt the clean water out through the other. Their long, joined siphons allow them to live deep in the sand, safe from hungry birds and the pounding of the waves. They are also fast diggers, burying themselves in seconds when they feel the vibration of a footstep. A clam that disappears when stepped near.
Pipi are the classic Kiwi beach bivalve, right up there with tuatua and cockle. They are dug up with toes or a small rake, rinsed in the sea and steamed open in a pot with white wine and garlic. They are sweet, tender and less briny than a cockle, with a delicate, oceanic flavour.
To eat a pipi is to eat the taste of the sandy beach. A smooth, white, wedge-shaped bivalve collected by hand, with sand in the bucket and salt on the skin.
The tide is out. The sand is wet. The siphons leave tiny dimples on the surface. A footstep. The dimples disappear. The clams dig deeper.
Then the bucket comes. The clams are collected. The pot is heated. The wine is poured. The clams open.
They do not know they are delicious. They just wanted to filter water.