Crassostrea gigas oyster shells shown from several sides, including the inside of the valves.

Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) shell specimen from Étang de Leucate, France; exterior and interior valve views.

Creator: Llez

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

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Species record

Pacific Oyster

Crassostrea gigas

Explore the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The Pacific oyster is native to the northwest Pacific and is widely farmed and introduced elsewhere. It settles on hard surfaces in estuaries and coastal waters, where adults filter tiny suspended food from the water. After spawning, larvae drift for weeks before attaching permanently to a surface; dense populations can form oyster reefs.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Mollusca
  3. Class: Bivalves
  4. Order: Ostreida
  5. Family: Ostreidae
  6. Genus: Crassostrea

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
estuaries, intertidal shores, shallow subtidal coasts, rocky and muddy shores, hard substrates
Selected regions
Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America

Conservation status

Conservation status not recorded.

Did you know?

  • Pacific oyster larvae can drift for two or three weeks before they attach permanently to a hard surface.

Sources and attribution