Ostrea
| Ostrea Temporal range: Cretaceous–Recent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A lower valve (the attachment valve) of a shell of Ostrea edulis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Subclass: | Pteriomorphia |
| Order: | Ostreoida |
| Suborder: | Ostreina |
| Superfamily: | Ostreoidea |
| Family: | Ostreidae |
| Subfamily: | Ostreinae |
| Genus: | Ostrea (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| species | |
|
See text | |
Ostrea is a genus of edible oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Ostreidae, the oysters. This is an ancient genus, as evidenced by the fossil record.[1]
At least one species within this genus, Ostrea lurida, has been recovered in archaeological excavations along the Central California coast of the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating it was a marine taxon exploited by the Native American Chumash people as a food source.[2]
Species
Species in the genus Ostrea include:
- Ostrea angasi Sowerby, 1871 - Southern mud oyster or Native flat oyster
- Ostrea conchaphila (Carpenter, 1857) - Olympia oyster
- Ostrea cristata (Born, 1778)
- Ostrea denselamellosa （Lischke, 1869）
- Ostrea digitalina †
- Ostrea edulis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Edible oyster or Belon oyster
- Ostrea equestris (Say, 1834) - Crested oyster
- Ostrea gryphoides †
- Ostrea lurida (Carpenter, 1864)
- Ostrea megadon (Hanley, 1846)
- Ostrea sandvicensis