See Also: Oyster(medicine)
oyster(dictionary)
oyster bed(dictionary)
oyster(encyclopedia)
oyster(dictionary)
Oyster(recipes)
Oyster mushrooms(recipes)
Oyster Soup(recipes)
Oyster po' boys(recipes)
Oyster sauce(recipes)

oyster (sh)




Any bivalve of two families, Ostreidae (true oysters) or Aviculidae (pearl oysters), found in temperate and warm coastal waters worldwide.

Both valves (halves) have a rough, often dirty-gray outer surface and a smooth white inner lining (nacre). The lower valve, which affixes to a surface, is nearly flat. The smaller upper valve is convex and has rougher edges. The oyster filters its food, minute organic particles, from the water. Cultivated as food, oysters are regarded as a delicacy. Pearls are the accumulation of nacre around a piece of foreign matter.


European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis)

G. Tomsich
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