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Eastern oyster

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Eastern oyster
Oyster bed, Brunswick, GA, US.jpg
Oyster bed in the Marshes of Glynn, Brunswick, Georgia, USA

Vulnerable (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreida
Family: Ostreidae
Genus: Crassostrea
Species:
C. virginica
Binomial name
Crassostrea virginica
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[2]
  • Crassostrea floridensis Sowerby
  • Dioeciostrea americana Orton, 1928
  • Lopha gibsonsmithi Macsotay & Campos, 2001
  • Ostraea floridensis G.B. Sowerby II, 1871
  • Ostraea reniformis G.B. Sowerby II, 1871
  • Ostraea rostrata Chemnitz, 1785
  • Ostrea borealis Lamarck, 1819
  • Ostrea canadensis Lamarck, 1819
  • Ostrea procyon Holmes, 1858
  • Ostrea triangularis Holmes, 1856
  • Ostrea virginiana Röding, 1798
  • Ostrea virginica Gmelin, 1791

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)—also called the Atlantic oyster, American oyster, or East Coast oyster—is a species of true oyster native to eastern North and South America. Other names in local or culinary use include the Wellfleet oyster,[3] Virginia oyster, Malpeque oyster, Blue Point oyster, Chesapeake Bay oyster, and Apalachicola oyster. C. virginica ranges from northern New Brunswick south through parts of the West Indies[4] to Venezuela.[5][6]: 7  It is farmed in all of the Maritime provinces of Canada and all Eastern Seaboard and Gulf states of the United States, as well as Puget Sound, Washington, where it is known as the Totten Inlet Virginica.[7] It was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the nineteenth century and is common in Pearl Harbor.[8]

The eastern oyster is an important commercial species. Its distribution has been affected by habitat change; less than 1% of the population present when the first European colonists arrived is thought to remain in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.[9] As of 2014, the global conservation status of Crassostrea virginica, as assessed by NatureServe, is "vulnerable," as the oyster's populations are threatened by overharvest and water pollution.[1] Other threats to the eastern oyster include global warming, diseases and parasites and competition with invasive species.[10]

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Species

Species

In biology, a species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour, or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined.

Malpeque Bay

Malpeque Bay

Malpeque Bay is a 204 km2 (79 sq mi) estuarine bay on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Blue Point, New York

Blue Point, New York

Blue Point is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 5,156 at the 2020 census. Blue Point is in the Town of Brookhaven.

Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware. The mouth of the Bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states and all of District of Columbia.

Apalachicola, Florida

Apalachicola, Florida

Apalachicola is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater, brackish water and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, refers specifically to aquaculture practiced in seawater habitats and lagoons, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture. Pisciculture is a type of aquaculture that consists of fish farming to obtain fish products as food.

East Coast of the United States

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline where the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. This region includes Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and the federal capital of Washington, D.C..

Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southwest and south by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo; and on the southeast by Cuba. The Southern U.S. states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, which border the Gulf on the north, are often referred to as the "Third Coast" of the United States.

Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and two minor connections to the open Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca—Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and Deception Pass and Swinomish Channel being the minor.

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands are now a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. The U.S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet and the right to maintain a repair and coaling station for ships here in 1887. The surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, led the United States to declare war on the Empire of Japan, making the attack on Pearl Harbor the immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War II.

NatureServe conservation status

NatureServe conservation status

The NatureServe conservation status system, maintained and presented by NatureServe in cooperation with the Natural Heritage Network, was developed in the United States in the 1980s by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a means for ranking or categorizing the relative imperilment of species of plants, animals, or other organisms, as well as natural ecological communities, on the global, national or subnational levels. These designations are also referred to as NatureServe ranks, NatureServe statuses, or Natural Heritage ranks. While the Nature Conservancy is no longer substantially involved in the maintenance of these ranks, the name TNC ranks is still sometimes encountered for them.

Invasive species

Invasive species

An invasive or alien species is an introduced species to an environment that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food web – for example the purple sea urchin which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter. Since the 20th century, invasive species have become a serious economic, social, and environmental threat.

Description

Main article: Oyster § Physical characteristics

Like all oysters, Crassostrea virginica is a bivalve mollusk with a hard calcium carbonaceous shell that protects it from predation.

This particular type of oyster is important to its ecosystem. Like all oysters, C. virginica is a filter feeder. It sucks in water and filters out the plankton and detritus to swallow, then spits the water back out, thus cleaning the water around it. One oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in 24 hours.[11] Eastern oysters also provide a key structural element within their ecosystem, making them a foundation species in many environments, and they serve as ecosystem engineers in western Atlantic estuaries.[12][13] Like coral reefs, oyster beds, also known as oyster reefs, provide key habitat for a variety of different species by creating hard substrate for attachment and habitation.[14] Oyster beds have an estimated 50 times the surface area of an equally sized flat bottom. The beds also attract a high concentration of larger predators looking for food.[15]

The eastern oyster, like all members of the family Ostreidae, can make small pearls to surround particles that enter the shell. These pearls, however, are insignificant in size and of no monetary value; the pearl oyster, from which commercial pearls are harvested, is of a different family.

Unlike most bivalves, whose shells are aragonite, adult eastern oysters have calcite shells. The larvae, however, retain the aragonite shell of their ancestors. The specific gravity of the two types of shell is similar, so neither would confer a weight advantage over the other for a freely swimming larva.[16] The transition to the thicker calcite shell in the adult of this species is thought to be an adaptation for defense against predators because the oysters are immobilized in exposed locations.[16]

  • Side

    Side

  • Outside

    Outside

  • Inside

    Inside

  • Eastern oyster shell, close.jpg
  • Cluster of oysters

    Cluster of oysters

  • Oysters growing on a post

    Oysters growing on a post

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Calcium

Calcium

Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust, and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium. The most common calcium compound on Earth is calcium carbonate, found in limestone and the fossilised remnants of early sea life; gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite are also sources of calcium. The name derives from Latin calx "lime", which was obtained from heating limestone.

Carbonate

Carbonate

A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula CO2−3. The word carbonate may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C(=O)(O–)2.

Filter feeder

Filter feeder

Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish. Some birds, such as flamingos and certain species of duck, are also filter feeders. Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers. They are also important in bioaccumulation and, as a result, as indicator organisms.

Plankton

Plankton

Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water that are unable to propel themselves against a current. The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish and whales.

Foundation species

Foundation species

In ecology, the foundation species are species that have a strong role in structuring a community. A foundation species can occupy any trophic level in a food web. The term was coined by Paul K. Dayton in 1972, who applied it to certain members of marine invertebrate and algae communities. It was clear from studies in several locations that there were a small handful of species whose activities had a disproportionate effect on the rest of the marine community and they were therefore key to the resilience of the community. Dayton’s view was that focusing on foundation species would allow for a simplified approach to more rapidly understand how a community as a whole would react to disturbances, such as pollution, instead of attempting the extremely difficult task of tracking the responses of all community members simultaneously. The term has since been applied to a range of organisms in ecosystems around the world, in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Aaron Ellison et al. introduced the term to terrestrial ecology by applying the term foundation species to tree species that define and structure certain forest ecosystems through their influences on associated organisms and modulation of ecosystem processes.

Coral reef

Coral reef

A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.

Oyster reef

Oyster reef

The term oyster reef refers to dense aggregations of oysters that form large colonial communities. Because oyster larvae need to settle on hard substrates, new oyster reefs may form on stone or other hard marine debris. Eventually the oyster reef will propagate by spat settling on the shells of older or nonliving oysters. The dense aggregations of oysters are often referred to as an oyster reef, oyster bed, oyster bank, oyster bottom, or oyster bar interchangeably. These terms are not well defined and often regionally restricted.

Ostreidae

Ostreidae

The Ostreidae, the true oysters, include most species of molluscs commonly consumed as oysters. Pearl oysters are not true oysters, and belong to the order Pteriida.

Pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.

Family (biology)

Family (biology)

Family is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family".

Aragonite

Aragonite

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3. It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation from marine and freshwater environments.

Calcite

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses.

Life cycle

The life cycle of C. virginica consists of spawn, floating fertilized egg, trochophore, swimming straight-hinge veliger, swimming late veliger, swimming and crawling pediveliger, early spat, later spat, and adult oysters.[17] Spawning of C. virginica is controlled by water temperatures and varies from north to south; northern oysters spawn at temperatures between 60 and 68 °F (15.5 and 20 °C), whereas southern oysters spawn at temperatures above 68 °F (20 °C). Spawning can occur throughout the warm months.[18]

Eastern oysters can reach sexual maturity at four months old in southern waters.[19] The eastern oyster's reproductive cycle begins during late summer and autumn months with the storage of glycogen energy reserves.[20] This glycogen is then used to support gametogenesis during the next winter and early spring when food intake is at a minimum.[20] The gametes begin to mature in late spring and then, from June to August, they are spawned into the water column, where fertilization occurs.[20] Each female produces from 75 to 150 million eggs, but only one in a thousand survives.[21] Fertilized eggs develop in about six hours into planktonic, free-swimming, trochophore larvae, also known as the early umbo stage, which have cilia and a small shell.[17] The trochophore larvae depend on their internal yolk supply for energy.[22] They then develop within 12 to 24 hours into a fully shelled veliger larvae, also known as the late umbo stage, which has a hinged side and a velum.[17] During this time, the shelled veliger larvae use their ciliated vela to capture food and swim.[22] The larvae remain planktonic for about 2 to 3 weeks, depending on food and temperature conditions, and towards the end of this period, they develop into pediveliger larvae, also known as eyed larvae, which have an umbo, an eyespot, and a foot.[17] During this time. the pediveliger larvae settle to the bottom, where they seek a hard substrate.[17] Ideally, the pediveliger larvae try to locate an adult oyster shell to which they attach, often as part of an existing oyster reef, but other hard surfaces will suffice. Upon settling, a larva cements its left valve to the substrate and metamorphoses into an oyster spat by discarding its velum, reabsorbing its foot, and enlarging its gills.[22] During the first year of life, C. virginica oysters are protandric. Most spat are male, but once they reach sexual maturity, some males change to females after the first or second spawning.[18] Some females may change back to males again.[18]

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Trochophore

Trochophore

A trochophore is a type of free-swimming planktonic marine larva with several bands of cilia.

Veliger

Veliger

A veliger is the planktonic larva of many kinds of sea snails and freshwater snails, as well as most bivalve molluscs (clams) and tusk shells.

Glycogen

Glycogen

Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, fungi, and bacteria. It is the main storage form of glucose in the human body.

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis is a biological process by which diploid or haploid precursor cells undergo cell division and differentiation to form mature haploid gametes. Depending on the biological life cycle of the organism, gametogenesis occurs by meiotic division of diploid gametocytes into various gametes, or by mitosis. For example, plants produce gametes through mitosis in gametophytes. The gametophytes grow from haploid spores after sporic meiosis. The existence of a multicellular, haploid phase in the life cycle between meiosis and gametogenesis is also referred to as alternation of generations.

Oyster reef

Oyster reef

The term oyster reef refers to dense aggregations of oysters that form large colonial communities. Because oyster larvae need to settle on hard substrates, new oyster reefs may form on stone or other hard marine debris. Eventually the oyster reef will propagate by spat settling on the shells of older or nonliving oysters. The dense aggregations of oysters are often referred to as an oyster reef, oyster bed, oyster bank, oyster bottom, or oyster bar interchangeably. These terms are not well defined and often regionally restricted.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insects, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis ("holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis ("ametaboly").

History of the Chesapeake Bay oyster

Before industrial harvesting

Before Columbus and the rise of industrial oyster operations, oysters abounded in the bay. Oysters first arrived in the Chesapeake 5,000 years ago, and shortly after, local Indians began eating them. Archaeologists found evidence the local Native Americans returned to the same place to collect oysters for 3,000 years. John Smith, on a voyage up the Chesapeake, stated oysters "lay as thick as stones."[23] In fact, the word Chesapeake derives from an Algonquian word meaning 'Great Shellfish Bay'.[24] Because of the abundance of oysters filtering the waters of the Chesapeake, the water was much clearer than it is now. Visibility would sometimes reach 20 feet. When the English began settling the area, they evidently had a localized impact of the oyster population. One archaeological site measured oyster sizes near Maryland's old capital St. Mary's city from 1640 to 1710. In 1640, when the city was still small, oysters measured 80 mm, and in the city's maximum population in 1690, they measured to 40 mm. When the capital moved to Annapolis, the population moved with it, and by 1710, the oysters were back up to 80 mm.[25] However, the effect of overharvesting would remain local until after the Civil War, when a combination of new technologies led to the removal of nearly all the bay oysters.

Industrial oyster harvesting

During the industrial revolution, several new technologies were introduced to the Chesapeake Bay area which allowed for more intensive oyster harvesting. First was the invention of canning. This allowed oysters to be preserved much longer, and created demand for oysters across the world. Secondly, the invention of the dredge enabled oyster harvesters to reach untouched depths of the Chesapeake. And finally, the proliferation of steam-powered ships and railroads made transportation more reliable, enabling merchants to sell oysters far and wide. Estimates for the harvest in 1839 give a figure of 700,000 bushels. After the Civil War, dredges were legalized, and harvesting exploded to 5 million bushels that year. By 1875, 17 million bushels were taken from the bay. The harvesting would reach its peak in the 1880s, with 20 million bushels being harvested from the bay each year.[25] Not only were they being taken for food, but also oyster reefs, where oysters had built hills of their dead shells over thousands of generations, were being dredged out. Surplus oyster shells had many uses then. They were ground into mortar, used as filler in roads, and as a source of lime in agricultural fertilizer. By the 1920s, harvests would be down to just 3–5 million bushels per year because of overharvesting.

Decline and disease

Overharvesting eventually depleted the remaining oyster population in the bay to just 1% of its historical level, where it stands today. Oyster harvests began to decline in the 1890s. They were being taken much faster than they could reproduce. Also, many of the shells and reefs were being taken and not being replaced. Oyster spat need a hard surface on which to attach, and these were vanishing because of the destruction of oyster reefs. By the 1920s, harvests were down to 3–5 million bushels per year,[25] stabilized for a time by returning oyster shells back to the bay. But in the 1950s, the weakened oyster population had to deal with the diseases "dermo" and MSX. These decimated the remaining oyster population. The parasites which carried the disease are alien to eastern waters, and they were thought to have been brought to the Chesapeake by Asian oysters. Currently, oyster harvests average less than 200,000 bushels a year.

Commercial value

Main article: Oyster § Oysters as food

The eastern oyster used to be of great commercial value. Due to the steep decline in the number of oysters in various traditionally harvested areas, primarily because of overfishing and diseases,[26] the annual catch has declined significantly. In Maryland, the 2006–2007 catch was 165,059 bushels (about 7600 m³) of oysters.[27] Other regions of the East Coast of the United States have successful oyster farms, including most notably Cotuit , Martha's Vineyard and Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.

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Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. With a total land area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km2), Maryland is the 8th smallest state by land area, but with a population of over 6,177,200, it ranks as the 18th most populous state and the 5th most densely populated. Baltimore is the largest city in the state, and the capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. It is named after Henrietta Maria, the French-born queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who was known then in England as Mary.

Bushel

Bushel

A bushel is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat. In modern usage, the volume is nominal, with bushels denoting a mass defined differently for each commodity.

Oyster farming

Oyster farming

Oyster farming is an aquaculture practice in which oysters are bred and raised mainly for their pearls, shells and inner organ tissue, which is eaten. Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Romans as early as the 1st century BC on the Italian peninsula and later in Britain for export to Rome. The French oyster industry has relied on aquacultured oysters since the late 18th century.

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the smaller adjacent Chappaquiddick Island, which is usually connected to the Vineyard. The two islands have sometimes been separated by storms and hurricanes, which last occurred from 2007 to 2015. It is the 58th largest island in the U.S., with a land area of about 96 square miles (250 km2), and the third-largest on the East Coast, after Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Martha's Vineyard constitutes the bulk of Dukes County, which also includes the Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land.

Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer. A total of 70% of the town's land area is under protection, and nearly half of it is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Wellfleet is famous for its oysters, which are celebrated in the annual October Wellfleet OysterFest.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod

Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.

Effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Harvestable size of a C. virginica oyster is 75 mm, which can take from 12 to 36 months, depending on temperature, salinity of the water, and food supply.[18] Salinity is a very important climatological variable that affects spatfall. Oysters do best where salinities range from 10 to 30 ppt; the range of 15 to 18 ppt is considered optimal.[18] Typically, when salinity levels are less than 6 ppt, larvae will not settle and metamorphose into spat.[28] In 2010, 665 miles of coastline were affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[29] To keep the oil at bay and to spare the oystermen, the authorities of Louisiana made an unprecedented decision to maximize the fresh water flow through the region's canals to three times usual levels.[21] At the mouth of the canals, salinity fell to almost zero, which was probably why most of the oysters died.[21] Sujata Gupta ventured into the marshlands and Gulf of Mexico with Brad Robin, a man from a line of generations of oystermen in southeastern Louisiana. Robin and his crew threw a net over the side to haul in a catch.[21] There were dozens of palm-sized oysters, but 75% of them were "boxes" or empty shells.[21] However, as they traveled further towards the Gulf of Mexico, where the water was less salinity-stressed by the flush, only 20% of the haul came back as boxes, a promising sign the oysters are trying to come back.[21] Gupta reported, "Now since there are so many empty shells scattered on the sea floor, the larvae have more to latch onto, improving their odds".[21] However, salinity levels are not the only concern. Eastern oysters are filter feeders, so they are greatly affected by their surroundings since they are sessile organisms. This means if the water around them was contaminated with oil and the dispersant used to get rid of the oil, then these chemicals were collected by the oysters as they filtered the water.[30] This is cause for great concern that the oysters are being killed by the toxins in the dispersant, as well.[30] An added dilemma is oysters are in their weakest state after spawning season, which may have caused some of them to close their shells, resulting in death by suffocation within just a few days due to warm temperatures in the Gulf if the shells remain closed.[30] The toxins in the oil and dispersants can also kill the larvae.[30] To highlight the recovery of the state's oyster industry, the shell of C. virginica cut into cabochons was made Louisiana's official state gem in 2011.[31][32]

Diseases

"Dermo" (Perkinsus marinus) is a marine disease of oysters, caused by a protozoan parasite. It is a prevalent pathogen of oysters, causing massive mortality in oyster populations, and poses a significant economic threat to the oyster industry.

Multinucleated sphere X (MSX) (Haplosporidium nelsoni), another protozoan, was first described along the mid-Atlantic coast in 1957.[33] Mortalities can reach 90% to 95% of the oyster population within 2 to 3 years of being seeded.[34] MSX slows the feeding rates of infected oysters, leading to a reduction in the amount of stored carbohydrates, which in turn inhibits normal gametogenesis during spawning, resulting in reduced fecundity.

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Perkinsus marinus

Perkinsus marinus

Perkinsus marinus is a species of alveolate belonging to the phylum Perkinsozoa. It is similar to a dinoflagellate. It is known as a prevalent pathogen of oysters, causing massive mortality in oyster populations. The disease it causes is known as dermo or perkinsosis, and is characterized by the degradation of oyster tissues. The genome of this species has been sequenced.

Protozoa

Protozoa

Protozoa are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Historically, protozoans were regarded as "one-celled animals", because they often possess animal-like behaviours, such as motility and predation, and lack a cell wall, as found in plants and many algae.

Pathogen

Pathogen

In biology, a pathogen in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.

Haplosporidium nelsoni

Haplosporidium nelsoni

Haplosporidium nelsoni is a pathogen of oysters that originally caused oyster populations to experience high mortality rates in the 1950s, and still is quite prevalent today. The disease caused by H. nelsoni is also known as MSX. MSX is thought to have been introduced by experimental transfers of the Pacific oyster, which is resistant to this disease.

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis is a biological process by which diploid or haploid precursor cells undergo cell division and differentiation to form mature haploid gametes. Depending on the biological life cycle of the organism, gametogenesis occurs by meiotic division of diploid gametocytes into various gametes, or by mitosis. For example, plants produce gametes through mitosis in gametophytes. The gametophytes grow from haploid spores after sporic meiosis. The existence of a multicellular, haploid phase in the life cycle between meiosis and gametogenesis is also referred to as alternation of generations.

Fecundity

Fecundity

Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to produce offspring, measured by the number of gametes (eggs), seed set, or asexual propagules.

Recognition

The eastern oyster is the state shellfish of Connecticut,[35] its shell is the state shell of Virginia and Mississippi, and its shell in cabochon form is the state gem of Louisiana.[31]

Discover more about Recognition related topics

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Connecticut was home to over 3.6 million residents, its highest decennial count count ever, growing every decade since 1790. The state is bordered by Rhode Island to its east, Massachusetts to its north, New York to its west, and Long Island Sound to its south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Historically, the state is part of New England as well as the tri-state area with New York and New Jersey. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of "Quinnetuket”, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river".

List of U.S. state shells

List of U.S. state shells

This is a list of official state shells for those states of the United States that have chosen to select one as part of their state insignia. In 1965, North Carolina was the first state to designate an official state shell, the Scotch bonnet. Since then, 14 other states have designated an official state shell.

Virginia

Virginia

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Its geography and climate are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. The state's capital is Richmond. Its most-populous city is Virginia Beach, and Fairfax County is the state's most-populous political subdivision. Virginia's population in 2022 was over 8.68 million, with 35% living within in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.

Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Mississippi is the 32nd largest by area and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income in the United States. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020.

Cabochon

Cabochon

A cabochon is a gemstone that has been shaped and polished, as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex (rounded) obverse with a flat reverse. Cabochon was the default method of preparing gemstones before gemstone cutting developed.

List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, stones and gemstones

List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, stones and gemstones

Leaders of states in the U.S. which have significant mineral deposits often create a state mineral, rock, stone or gemstone to promote interest in their natural resources, history, tourism, etc. Not every state has an official state mineral, rock, stone and/or gemstone, however.

Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans, with a population of roughly 383,000 people.

Source: "Eastern oyster", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 6th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_oyster.

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Further Reading

Shellfish

Chesapeake Bay

Oyster

Callinectes sapidus

Fish hatchery

Pacific oyster

Oyster farming

Saccostrea glomerata

Ostrea lurida

Oyster reef restoration

Ischadium

Oyster buy-boat

Billion Oyster Project

Oyster reef

Loxothylacus panopaei
References

Citations

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  15. ^ "Aquatic Reefs". About the Bay. Chesapeake Bay Program. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
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  31. ^ a b "RS 49:163 State Gem". State of Louisiana. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
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  35. ^ STATE OF CONNECTICUT, Sites º Seals º Symbols Archived March 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine; Connecticut State Register & Manual; retrieved on January 4, 2007

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