It has a thin brittle shell, which tapers to a point at one end and fans out at the other. There are lines of hollow spines and jagged growth lines on the surface of the shell. It is straw coloured with streaks of dark brown or purple. The exposed surface of the shell provides a substrate for many other animals to live on. The symbiotic pea crab can be found in it.

These mussels live three quarters buried in soft muds from low tide to about 40m depth. It will be attached by byssus threads to small pieces of rock or shell, but it is unable to rebury itslef if it is dug up.

Filter feeder.

Daily limit per person 50, no minimum size.

NZ Coastal Marine Invertebrates; Vol 1.