Species: Ostrea lurida

Olympia Oyster
Species

    Science Review:

    Articles:

    Return of a native: Olympia oysters are making a comeback

    Puget Sound’s only native oysters were nearly wiped out in the 19th century from overharvesting. Now a network of scientists and advocates is working to restore them to their historical and cultural prominence.

    Six-month-old Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) seed. Photo: Benjamin Drummond/benjandsara.com
    Building a baseline of invasive species in Puget Sound

    Almost twenty years ago, volunteer biologists began an intensive survey for invasive species in the marine waters of Puget Sound. In a little over a week of hunting, they found 39 such species, including 11 never before seen in the region.

    The orange-striped Asian anemone (Diadumene lineata) was commonly observed in Shelton during the 1998 Puget Sound Expedition. Photo: James Koh (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jameskoh/3835201631/
    Reestablishing Olympia oyster populations in Puget Sound, Washington

    A 2005 report from the Washington Sea Grant Program describing the history and current state of native Olympia oysters including their ecology, history with human interactions, prefered habitat, and reestablishment efforts in the Puget Sound region.

    Report cover.
    Native shellfish in nearshore ecosystems of Puget Sound

    This is the executive summary from a technical report produced for the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership on Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC). The entire document is included as a PDF with this summary.

    Olympia oysters in Washington. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
    Bivalves in Puget Sound

    Many types of bivalves, both native and non-native, flourish in Puget Sound. These species are a crucial part of the Puget Sound ecosystem and are also important for commercial fisheries.

    Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Photo by Don Rothaus, courtesy of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Mollusca
    Class

    Bivalvia

    Order

    Ostreoida

    Family

    Ostreidae

    Genus

    Ostrea

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Huître plate du Pacifique
    Informal Taxonomy
    <p>Animals, Invertebrates - Mollusks - Other Mollusks</p>
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Mollusca - Bivalvia - Ostreoida - Ostreidae - Ostrea
    Habitat Type Description
    Marine
    Migration
    <p>false - false - false</p>
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    false
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2008-09-03
    Global Status Last Changed
    2003-01-23
    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S3&US.AK=SNR&US.CA=SNR&US.OR=SNR&US.WA=SNR" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - This species occurs from Sitka, Alaska, to Panama in the intertidal zone to 10 m (Coan et al., 2000).
    Global Range Code
    G
    Global Range Description
    200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.110860