About Dosinia anus (R.A.Philippi, 1847)
Dosinia anus (R.A.Philippi, 1847) has several common names: the ringed dosinia, coarse dosinia, coarse biscuit shell, and tuangi-haruru in the Māori language. It is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc that belongs to the family Veneridae, also known as the venus clams. This species is common to both of the main islands of New Zealand. Within its genus, it is the largest and heaviest species, and can occasionally exceed 80 mm in diameter. Dosinia anus buries itself in clean fine sandy substrata, and can be found sub-tidally down to 15 m deep. An investigation into a potential surf clam fishery found that this species is the most abundant 'surf clam' in the North Island; surf clams are an informal grouping defined based on habitat. In more southerly latitudes, members of the Mactridae replace this species.
