The Eastern Oyster: Crassostrea Virginica

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a non-moving, filter feeding shellfish occurring naturally along the western Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Quebec, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. The eastern oyster has been called the ultimate estuarine animal. It can tolerate a wide range of salinity, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen levels, making it well adapted to the ever-changing conditions of the estuary. The distribution and survival of eastern oysters within habitat types is influenced by abiotic (non-living, physical) factors such as salinity, tide, oxygen levels and flow, as well as biotic (living, biological) factors such as disease, shell erosion caused by other species and predation. North Carolina's oyster stocks are composed of both intertidal (oysters growing between the mean high and low tide levels) and subtidal (oysters growing below the mean low water level) populations.