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Introduced Marine Aquatic Invaders - a field guide
Introducted Marine Species - Pacific Oyster
Crassostrea gigas
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| Pacific Oyster - Crassostrea gigas Photo: CSIRO Marine Research |
Australia Invasion
- deliberately introduced to Tasmania and South Australia for aquaculture and has since spread to Victoria, New South Wales and southern Queensland
Habitat
- attach to almost any hard surface
- prefer sheltered waters in estuaries
- intertidal and shallow subtidal (to 3 metres)
ID Features
- bivalve (two shells) oyster with rough fluted shell
- up to 15 cm in length, can be larger
- whitish in colour with purple streaks and spots
- shell valves (halves) are unequal in form and size (lower valve attached to substrate is larger and cupped, whereas upper valve is flatter)
- no tubercles on inside edges of shell valves
More information
More detailed information on this Marine Invader is available here.
...More Information on this Invader
Similar Native Marine Species
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| Coral Rock Oyster - Saccostrea cucullata Photo: Peter Morrison |
Coral Rock Oyster - Saccostrea cucullata
- open coastline with moderate to strong wave action
- triangular-oval shell up to 8 cm in length
- mauve to grey in colour
- upper valve ribbed or eroded, lower shell valve not sharp-edged
- small tubercles on inside edges of one or both shell valves
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| Black-lip Oyster - Saccostrea echinata Photo: Clay Bryce/ WA Museum |
Black-lip Oyster - Saccostrea echinata
- sheltered oceanic tropical waters
- oval shell up to 12 cm in length
- dark grey to dark purple in colour (inside may be black or black-edged)
- lower shell valve is shallow cupped, upper shell valve is slightly domed
- small tubercles on inside of one or both shell valves*
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| Flat Oyster - Ostrea angasi Photo: Peter Morrison |
Flat Oyster - Ostrea angasi
- sheltered oceanic waters along temperate coastlines
- circular shell up to 10 cm in length
- typically brown in colour
- exterior shell flaky and interior often chalky
- lower shell valve shallow cupped, upper shell valve slightly domed
- small tubercles on inside of one or both shell valves
* distinguishing feature
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