Echyridella menziesii

Echyridella menziesii

Declining (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionida
Family: Unionidae
Genus: Echyridella
Species:
E. menziesii
Binomial name
Echyridella menziesii
(Gray, 1843)[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Diplodon menziesii (Gray, 1843)
  • Diplodon menziesii acuta Suter, 1907
  • Hyridella menziesii Gray, 1843
  • Unio waikarensis Colenso, 1845
  • Unis depauperata Hutton, 1883

Echyridella menziesii, the New Zealand freshwater mussel, also known by its Māori names kākahi, kāeo, and torewai,[citation needed] is a species of freshwater mussel endemic to New Zealand. E. menziesii is an aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.

They were an important food source for the Māori,[4] but like many freshwater mussels worldwide, are now endangered by pollution and eutrophication of rivers, and the introduction of new species of fish[5] leading to actions via the Treaty of Waitangi claims process.[6]

It is one of three species of native freshwater mussels identified in New Zealand, the others being Echyridella aucklandica and Echyridella onekaka.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference TCS2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Echyridella menziesii (Gray, 1843)". www.NZOR.org.nz. New Zealand Organisms Register. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Echyridella menziesii (Gray, 1843)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Resource Management Issues of Significance to Iwi"
  5. ^ Butterworth, Joseph (2008). Lake Rotokakahi: The kakahi (Hyridella menziesi) in a general framework of lake health (MSc thesis). The University of Waikato.
  6. ^ "Muriwhenua Fisheries Claim / SOE Claim" Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Waitangi Tribunal