Leho
" Nani ka 'ike a ka he'e i nā wahi leho li'ili'i "
It is wonderful how the octopus notices the little cowries.
Said sarcastically of a man who looks at young girls with lust.
('Ölelo No'eau 2274)
Leho were eaten, used for lei and ornaments, used as scrapers to scrape kalo, 'ulu, and niu, and used in fishing as lūhe'e or octopus lures.
Leho are found during night and day but easier to collect on rocky shorelines at night. Leho are slimy raw but can be worked with salt to remove the slime (like he'e). You can wrap meat in ti-leaf and cook over a fire or boil the shell and crack open to eat. Both ways of preparing leho are 'ono.
There are many varieties of leho with numerous individual names. A common reference to the big shells are leho and the smaller ones are referred to as pōleholeho.