Tuatua (Paphies subtriangulata) are a large, triangular shaped edible bivalve found on open sandy beaches throughout New Zealand. It is able to dig into the sand very quickly, so is harder to gather than the pipi, and because its foot is very muscular as a result of all that digging, it is also tougher to eat than the pipi. There is also a saying in NZ, that something can be as 'cool as a scorched tuatua'.