Crassostrea

Crassostrea is a genus of true oysters (family Ostreidae)^[2] containing some of the most important oysters used for food.

Crassostrea Temporal range: 145.5–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Ostreida
Family:	Ostreidae
Genus:	Crassostrea Sacco, 1897[1]
Species
See text
Synonyms
Ostrea (Crassostrea) Dall, 1909

The genus was recent split in WoRMS, following the DNA-based phylogenies of Salvi et al. (2014 and 2017). Pacific species were moved to a new genus Magallana. C. zhanjiangensis became Talonostrea zhanjiangensis.^[3] The changes are not universally welcomed by oyster researchers, as C. gigas (now M. gigas) is "one of the most researched species of marine invertebrate".^[4]

Species

Extant species are:^[2]

• Crassostrea aequatorialis (A. d'Orbigny, 1846)
• Crassostrea columbiensis (Hanley, 1846)
• Crassostrea corteziensis (Hertlein, 1951)
• Crassostrea mangle Amaral & Simone, 2014
• Crassostrea rhizophorae (Guilding, 1828)
• Crassostrea tulipa (Lamarck, 1819) – mangrove oyster
• Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) – eastern oyster

Fossil species

Crassostrea gigantissima (Finch, 1824) from the Eocene of Texas.

Crassostrea gigantissima (Finch, 1824) right valve interior (Eocene of Texas).

Fossil species include:^[5]

• †Crassostrea alabamiensis (Lea 1833)
• †Crassostrea ashleyi (Hertlein 1943) (syn. Ostrea arnoldi)
• †Crassostrea cahobasensis (Pilsbry and Brown 1910)
• †Crassostrea contracta (Conrad 1865)
• †Crassostrea cucullaris (Lamarck 1819)
• †Crassostrea cuebana (Jung 1974)
• †Crassostrea elegans (Deshayes, 1832)^[6] (syn. †Cubitostrea elegans Deshayes 1832 or Crassostrea (Cubitostrea) elegans)
• †Crassostrea gigantissima (Finch 1824) – Giant fossil oyster
• †Crassostrea gryphoides (Schlotheim 1813)
• †Crassostrea hatcheri (Ihering 1899)
• †Crassostrea ingens (Zittel 1864)
• †Crassostrea kawauchidensis (Tamura 1977)
• †Crassostrea patagonica (d'Orbigny 1842) (syn. Ostrea ferrarisi)
• †Crassostrea raincourti (Deshayes 1858)
• †Crassostrea titan (Conrad 1853) (syn. Ostrea prior, O. andersoni)
• †Crassostrea transitoria (Hupé 1854) (syn. Ostrea maxima)
• †Crassostrea wyomingensis^[7]

Genetics

The genome of Crassostrea gigas (now Magallana gigas) has been recently sequenced revealing an extensive set of genes that enable it to cope with environmental stresses.^[8]

References

1. I Molluschi dei terreni terziari del Piemonte e della Liguria. F Sacco, 1897
2. Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2024). "Crassostrea Sacco, 1897". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
3. Salvi, Daniele; Mariottini, Paolo (July 2016). "Molecular taxonomy in 2D: a novel ITS2 rRNA sequence-structure approach guides the description of the oysters' subfamily Saccostreinae and the genus Magallana (Bivalvia: Ostreidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1111/zoj.12455.
4. Bayne, B. L.; Ahrens, M.; Allen, S. K.; D'auriac, M. Anglès; Backeljau, T.; Beninger, P.; Bohn, R.; Boudry, P.; Davis, J.; Green, T.; Guo, X.; Hedgecock, D.; Ibarra, A.; Kingsley-Smith, P.; Krause, M.; Langdon, C.; Lapègue, S.; Li, C.; Manahan, D.; Mann, R.; Perez-Paralle, L.; Powell, E. N.; Rawson, P. D.; Speiser, D.; Sanchez, J.-L.; Shumway, S.; Wang, H. (December 2017). "The proposed dropping of the genus Crassostrea for all Pacific cupped oysters and its replacement by a new genus Magallana: a dissenting view". Journal of Shellfish Research. 36 (3): 545–547. doi:10.2983/035.036.0301. hdl:20.500.12010/8962.
5. "†Crassostrea Sacco 1897". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
6. irmng
7. J. Haffty, R. G. Schmidt, L. B. Riley, W. D. Goss. Rocks and Mineral Resources of the Wolf Creek Area, Lewis and Clark and Cascade Counties, Montana: A Descriptive Report on an Area in the Disturbed Belt Along the Eastern Front of the Northern Rocky Mountains in Western Montana, Issues 1441-1446
8. Zhang, G.; Fang, X.; Guo, X.; Li, L.; Luo, R.; Xu, F.; Yang, P.; Zhang, L.; Wang, X.; Qi, H.; Xiong, Z.; Que, H.; Xie, Y.; Holland, P. W. H.; Paps, J.; Zhu, Y.; Wu, F.; Chen, Y.; Wang, J.; Peng, C.; Meng, J.; Yang, L.; Liu, J.; Wen, B.; Zhang, N.; Huang, Z.; Zhu, Q.; Feng, Y.; Mount, A.; Hedgecock, D. (2012). "The oyster genome reveals stress adaptation and complexity of shell formation". Nature. 490 (7418): 49–54. Bibcode:2012Natur.490...49Z. doi:10.1038/nature11413. hdl:10722/251007. PMID 22992520.

• Crassostrea on britannica.com.