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Habitat and Enhancement Branch - Pacific Region
| TAXONOMY Phylum: Mollusca
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ECOLOGICAL DATA Distribution: scattered throughout B.C. coast. Habitat: saltwater lagoons, gravel flats, on or under rocks in muddy substrate, rocky sites near estuaries or in tidal pools; planktonic larvae dispersed by currents; juveniles cemented to rock surface for life. Tidal elevation: lower intertidal to 1-2 m subtidal depth; susceptible to temperature changes. Food: suspension feeder; mainly diatoms, detritus and zooplankton. Predators: oyster drill, sea stars, crabs and ctenophores. GROWTH RATE Slow; sexually mature by 2 yr; less than 60 mm maximum shell size. FISHERY Commercial fishery existed until 1936; recreational fishery.
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REFERENCES Bernard, F.R. 1983. Catalogue of the living bivalvia of the eastern Pacific Ocean: Bering Strait to Cape Horn. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61: 23. Bourne, N., and L. Clayton 1986. Oysters, p. 34-40. In G.S. Jamieson and K. Francis [ed.] Invertebrate and marine plant fishery resources of British Columbia. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 91. Cheney, D.P., and T.F. Mumford, Jr. 1986. Shellfish and seaweed harvests of Puget Sound. Wash. Sea Grant Program, Univ. Wash. Press, Seattle: 164 p. Fitch, J.E. 1953. Common marine bivalves of California. Calif. Dep. Fish Game Fish Bull. 90: 38. Kozoff, E.N. 1983. Seashore life of the northern Pacific coast. Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver: 296-297. Quayle, D.B. 1978. The intertidal bivalves of British Columbia. B.C. Prov. Mus. Handb. 17: 35-36. Quayle, D.B. 1969. Pacific oyster culture in British Columbia. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 169: 192 p. Quayle, D.B. 1988. Pacifc oyster culture in British Columbia. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 218: 241 p. |
For more information about native oyster habitat utilization and life cycle - click here