This paper gives an account of some analyses of the shell-fish paua (in this case Haliotis iris), which was used as food by the Maori and is also frequently used by Europeans.

The chemistry of molluscs in general has already attracted some attention, but our knowledge of the biochemical processes occurring in them, and especially in the marine forms; is still very meagre. The Haliotis has been shown to contain substances rarely met with in the composition of ordinary foodstuffs, or met with in smaller concentration. These comprise taurine (although there are no bile-salts), chlorophyll, haemocyanin, and, among the inorganic constituents, zinc. At the very outset we were impressed with the need for care in applying standard methods of diet-analysis to such material. One reason for this is that the part of the shell-fish used as food includes the alimentary canal and its contents, the glands. heart, and sexual organs; whereas in vertebrate animals used as food only the muscles and certain organs are eaten. The results are that in shell-fish we have a more heterogeneous mixture of materials, the non - protein nitrogen is high. the substances soluble in ether are by no means all fat, and the percentage of unclassified material (“extractives”) is considerable.

Our investigations were chiefly directed to the determination of the relative amounts of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and ash.

The paua were obtained from the shore at Pounawea. They were alive when received in the laboratory, and were kindly identified for us by Professor Benham as Haliotis iris.