| Ostrea equestris | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Ostreida |
| Family: | Ostreidae |
| Genus: | Ostrea |
| Species: | O. equestris |
| Binomial name | |
| Ostrea equestris Say, 1834 | |
Ostrea equestris, commonly known as the crested oyster or horse oyster, [1] is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Ostreidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North and South America, ranging from Virginia to Patagonia.
The crested oyster is a rather irregular triangular or oval shape and grows to a length of about 5 cm (2 in). The two valves are quite different; the left one is deeply concave, has a raised margin and is fixed to the substrate while the right one is flattish and fits inside the other. The valves are thick with variable surface sculpturing, the whitish colour being obscured by mud, algal growth and encrusting organisms. The inside of the valves is pearly grey or greenish, and the muscle scar is colourless, a fact that distinguishes this species from the much larger eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) which has a purple muscle scar. [1]
Right and left valve of the same specimen:
The species is found in shallow water on the Atlantic coast of North, Central and South America. Its range extends from Virginia in the United States southwards to San Matías Gulf in Patagonia. It grows on rocks, shells, jetties, oil platforms and other hard substrates in the subtidal zone. [2] [3] [4]
The crested oyster has been eaten by humans for at least 6,000 years; the empty shells have been found in shell middens dating to that period on the coast of the Santa Lucía River basin where there were lagoons beside the estuary. [3] Other mollusc remains found in these middens include the bivalves Mytilus edulis and Plicatula gibbosa , which grow on hard surfaces, and Erodona mactroides , Tagelus plebeius , Mactra sp., Anomalocardia flexuosa , and the gastropods Buccinanops deformis and Heleobia sp., all of which are found on soft sediment in the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones; this suggests that they were gathered locally from the estuarine environment. [3]
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America.
Bivalvia or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consisting of a hinged pair of half-shells known as valves. As a group, bivalves have no head and lack some typical molluscan organs such as the radula and the odontophore. Their gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing.
A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory molluscs,, arthropods such as crabs and firefly larvae, and, vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals. Molluscivory is performed in a variety ways with some animals highly adapted to this method of feeding behaviour. A similar behaviour, durophagy, describes the feeding of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing organisms, such as corals, shelled molluscs, or crabs.
Ostrea lurida, common name the Olympia oyster, after Olympia, Washington in the Puget Sound area, is a species of small, edible oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Ostreidae. This species occurs on the northern Pacific coast of North America. Over the years the role of this edible species of oyster has been partly displaced by the cultivation of non-native edible oyster species.
Modiolus modiolus, common name northern horsemussel, is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae.
Isognomon alatus, the flat tree oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Isognomonidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from southern Florida to Brazil and Bermuda.
Isognomon radiatus, the radial purse oyster or Lister's tree oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Isognomonidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from southern Florida to Brazil and Bermuda.
Pteria colymbus, the Atlantic winged oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pteriidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from North Carolina to Bermuda and Brazil.
Spondylus americanus, the Atlantic thorny oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from North Carolina to Brazil.
Anomia simplex, the common jingle shell, is a typical species of bivalve mollusc in the family of Anomiidae, sharing attributes to blue mussels, American oysters, and bay scallops. Species related to the family of Anomiidae are often noted for their extremely thin, often translucent, paper-like shells. Anomia simplex can be found in shallow waters, typically estuaries, mainly along the Atlantic Coast of North America; however, they can range as far north as the coast of Nova Scotia, and as far south as the coast of Brazil.
Anodontia alba, or the buttercup lucine, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Lucinidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, its range extending from North Carolina in the United States to the West Indies.
Anodontia philippiana, or the chalky buttercup, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Lucinidae. It can be found burrowing in soft substrate in shallow waters along the Atlantic coast of North America, its range extending from North Carolina in the United States to the West Indies and Bermuda.
Pododesmus patelliformis, the ribbed saddle-oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Anomiidae. It is found in the north east Atlantic Ocean.
Abra alba, or the white furrow shell, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Semelidae. It occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it lives on the floor in shallow areas buried in soft sediments.
Cyrtopleura costata, or the angel wing clam, is a bivalve mollusc in the family Pholadidae. It is found in shallow parts of the northwest Atlantic and also in the North Sea of Scotland coastline and west coast of the Adriatic Sea by a remote area in the Marche region in central Italy, living in the seabed, where it digs its burrows on a very slow revolving movement for years through soft sand and mud always to a max depth of 8ft but always below 3 feet (0.91 m) at the lowest tide.
Crassadoma is a genus of rock scallops, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Pectinidae. It is monotypic, the only species being Crassadoma gigantea, the rock scallop, giant rock scallop or purple-hinge rock scallop. Although the small juveniles are free-swimming, they soon become sessile, and are cemented to the substrate. These scallops occur in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Saccostrea cucullata, the hooded oyster or Natal rock oyster, is a species of rock oyster found mainly in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Lopha cristagalli, the cockscomb oyster, is a species of marine bivalve molluscs in the family Ostreidae.
Ostrea stentina is a species of oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Ostreidae, the oysters.
Crassostrea rhizophorae, also known as the mangrove cupped oyster, is a species of bivalve in the family Ostreidae. C. rhizophorae is one of the predominant oyster species in the South Atlantic, specifically in Central and South America. It is often found in the vast mangrove ecosystem along the coast of Brazil.