Understanding Seafood Classifications

Appears in

Professional Garde Manger: A Comprehensive Guide to Cold Food Preparation

By Jaclyn Pestka , Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett

Published 2010

About

A strictly literal definition of the term seafood is “foods from the sea.” This broad definition technically includes the various plant foods and mineral salts harvested from the oceans and other bodies of salt water, and excludes foods harvested from fresh water. However, here we define the term seafood to mean “non-mammal animal foods derived from both fresh and saltwater sources.” Table 6.1 reviews basic information on seafood classifications.

Table 6.1

Seafood Classifications

Fish

Aquatic animals with bony interior skeletons and fins

Take in oxygen through gills

Fish eggs, called caviar when processed and salted, are also considered seafood

Round fish: red snapper

Flat fish: flounder

Shellfish

Crustaceans

Aquatic animals with shells instead of skeletons

Take in oxygen in various ways

Can be further divided into two groups:

Have complex segmented exterior shells and legs

Examples: lobsters, shrimp, and crabs

Lobster © Valerie Loiseleux/iStockphoto.

Blue crabs

Shrimp © iStockphoto.

Mollusks

Have simple shell structures (or no shell) and no legs

Can be further divided into three groups:

Cherrystone clams

Blue mussels

St. James River oysters

Scallop in shell © Georg Hergenhan/iStockphoto.

Abalone Courtesy SFB (SeaFood Business).

Bivalves: Shellfish with hinged two-section exterior shells

Examples: clams, oysters, mussels, scallops
Univalves: Similar to bivalves, but have only one exterior shell section

Example: abalone
Cephalopods [SEF-ah-low-pods]: Mollusks with tentacles and a defined head

Some, such as squid and cuttlefish, have interior shell-like structures.

Octopus, on the other hand, have no interior shells

Example: Squid

Squid