Oysters

An oyster is a shellfish with two rough white shells that connect together at one point. The oyster has very strong muscles that hold the shell shut. It is very hard for predators such as humans to pry the shell open. An eastern oyster is usually two to six inches long. There is a purple mark that is left behind when the oyster is removed from the shell. The purple mark tells you where the oyster was attached inside the shell. Growth of an oyster can be relatively fast when exposed to warm waters year round. A baby oyster could reach one inch in three months, two inches in seven months, and three inches in fifteen months.
The shell of an oyster is sharp enough to cut through human flesh. Oyster shells are made of calcium carbonate, which is also, know as lime, while the oyster gets the lime from the water that they live in. They also had a kind of skin, which can be referred to as the mantle. The mantle puts calcium carbonate on the outside of the body to form the shell. Oysters have to live in water that s warm year round and not cloudy. The oyster can only grow in places where salt and fresh water mix together (brackish water), for example the Chesapeake Bay. When oysters are born they are free-swimming plankton. Wh

The oyster is among one of the most valuable resources of the coast of Texas. Fishermen make their living off of oysters because they are such a popular food item. Unlike a lot of other seafood oyster meat is completely “utilized,” which means no grilling or gutting needed. They can be eaten raw.

Oysters spawn from the warm weather in late spring to early fall. Eggs are discharged by females and released into the water and are fertilized by males who discharge sperm into the water. This can be productive and not so productive at the same time, it depends heavily on the tides. If the tide is slack than this can be a productive event, however is the tide is moving than the oyster would be lucky if one of the eggs became fertile.

The oyster also has to deal with many predators and parasites. Several types of crabs can crack open the shell and feed on the oyster. Another predator is the oyster drill, which is a predatory snail. It can bore a hole through the shell of an oyster and insert its tube like mouth which it uses to suck the insides out of the oyster. A selected few of sponges and mollusks burrow into the oysters valves for their own protection but this can weaken the oysters shell and make it more vulnerable to predation. Mussels and other encrusting colonial animals can crown the oyster and interfere with their feeding and can result in death of oysters.

n. When they grow older they find something to attach himself or herself to, for instance debris or a rock pile submerged under the water. Once there shell has grown they are stationary for the rest of their life. When the tide goes out the oyster is fully submerged under the water, however when the tide goes out they are exposed to the air. The oyster shuts its shell tight so that they will not dry out. The shell composes about 80% of the oyster’s weight. It is the only means of protection that the oyster has. Unlike the shell of the clam