The common phenomenon of sublethal predation in soft-bottom bivalves usually involves nipping of siphons. Here we show that foot cropping, hitherto documented only in Donax spp., is widespread in the New Zealand cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi (Veneridae). Depending on the locality, cropping frequency ranged between 14 and 34% of cockles, and the average proportion of the foot area cropped ranged between nine and 21%. Estimates of biomass lost to croppers at the time of sampling varied between 235 and 2040 mg ww m−2. It is emphasized that foot cropping in Austrovenus is likely to affect the population dynamics of the cockles.