Species and Habitat Outlines

Pacific Oyster
TAXONOMY

Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreoida
Family: Ostreidae

 

ECOLOGICAL DATA

Distribution: introduced from Japan in 1912; common in sheltered bays and estuaries along south coast.

Habitat: surface of gently sloping flats composed of firm mud, sand or gravel, also on rocks; restricted growth on muddy substrate; areas of clear, warm, sheltered waters such as Pendrell Sound, and to a lesser extent Hotham Sound and Pipestem Inlet are prime spawning areas; planktonic larvae are dispersed by currents; juveniles cement shell to hard clean surface and remain for life.

Tidal elevation: from 2-4 m intertidal zone.

Food: suspension feeder; mainly diatoms, detritus and zooplankton.

Predators: sea stars, oyster drills, ctenophores and crabs; mud and ghost shrimp can destroy oyster habitat.

GROWTH RATE

Temperature is critical to growth since it is at northern limit of range in B.C.; sexually mature in 2-3 yr.; commercial size, 100-127 mm, in 3 yr.

FISHERY

Important commercial, recreational and Native fisheries in Georgia Strait; Baynes Sound supports 70% of B.C. culture; commercial harvest was 2,864 t valued at $2.5 million in 1986; sewage pollution and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) can impact fishery.

REFERENCES

Anon. (no date). The Pacific oyster. Fish. Oceans Can., leaflet, Vancouver: 4 p.

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.

Quayle, D.B. 1969. Pacific oyster culture in British Columbia. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 169: 192 p.

Quayle, D.B. 1971. Pacific oyster raft culture in British Columbia. Fish. Res. Board Can. Bull. 178: 34 p.

Quayle, D.B. 1978. The intertidal bivalves of British Columbia. B.C. Prov. Mus. Handb. 17: 31-32.

Quayle, D.B. 1988. Pacific oyster culture in British Columbia. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 218: 241 p.

 

For more information on Pacific oyster habitat utilization and life cycle - click here

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