Alan Davidson

American/Eastern Oyster

Crassostrea virginica Gmelin

Appears in
top 1000North Atlantic Seafood
North Atlantic Seafood

By Alan Davidson

Published 1980

  • About

Family Ostreidae

REMARKS Maximum length about 17 cm. The shell is rough, heavy and usually greyish. These valuable creatures have a range from New Brunswick down to the Gulf of Mexico. Consumption of them was at its height in about 1895, when 170 million pounds were harvested. The annual total sank below 100 million in the late 1920s and has since fallen close to the 50 million mark.

These oysters are marketed under a variety of names, usually indicating whence they come. The most renowned are from Long Island (Blue Point, Robbins Island, Gardiners Bay, etc.) and the Chesapeake region (Chincoteague Bay etc.). Oysters are often transplanted to spend the last few months of their lives in these most favoured habitats, so as to acquire the special flavours associated with them.