Bivalve

Eastern oyster

Crassostrea virginica

Brackish to salty estuary waters, attached to hard surfaces and oyster reefs

Photo: (c) Jamie VanBuskirk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY · Source and license. Displayed as a resized crop. Photograph illustrates the species.

Habitat: Brackish to salty estuary waters, attached to hard surfaces and oyster reefs
Habitat zone: Intertidal and submerged estuary reefs
Viewing activities: Beach / tidepool

What to look for

An irregular, rough shell; adults in the field guide are commonly about 3–5 inches long.

Life and behavior

Adults remain attached and build clustered reef habitat.

When to look

The available records do not establish a reliable local viewing season. Use the map’s month filter to inspect dated observations; it does not predict an encounter.

RECORDED PRESENCE

Where has Eastern oyster been recorded?

These destination links use the same area and date cutoff as the map: 40 km circles, except for the four named regional rectangles. Checked 2026-09-19. Counts describe source records, not individual animals or sighting odds.

Chesapeake BayVirginia & Maryland, United StatesRegional rectangle · 630 source records since 2016About this destination →CozumelMexico40 km radius · 3 source records since 2016About this destination →Florida KeysFlorida, United StatesRegional rectangle · 21 source records since 2016About this destination →

Sources, search boundaries and limitations