Unique to New Zealand...
is our native Paua. Paua is a sea snail similar to the Abalone, a plant eating shell fish. Maori, the indigenous tribe, prized the Paua not only for it's high protein and tasty meat, but also for the beauty in the internal shell, yielding a stunning flood of colour which I've attempted to capture below.
The mollusc feeds on seaweed and clings to the rock around 1-10 mtrs deep along the shoreline
The Maori made the effervescent shell into intricate jewelry which is still a major New Zealand Product today
The shell varies in quality. This one I would say is probably a Jewelry grade shell . Although most I find are from hunting them for food, I found this one on the beach close to where I live.
What an amazing creature!
All of the images were captured with an iPhone 6.