Kingdom Animalia Class Bivalvia Family Ostreidae Scientific name Ostrea angasi | Phylum Mollusca Order Ostreoida Genus Ostrea Rank Species | |
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Similar Sydney rock oyster, Dredge oyster, Rock oyster, Saxidomus nuttalli, Chiton magnificus | ||
The southern mud oyster or native flat oyster, Ostrea angasi, is endemic to southern Australia, ranging from Western Australia to southeast New South Wales and around Tasmania.
Contents
Habitat
This species is found in sheltered, silty or sand-bottomed estuaries at depths between 1 and 30 m.
Diet
Flat oysters, like all other oyster species, are filter feeders, feeding on, and taking in anything small enough to be filtered in their gills. This may include plankton, microalgae or inorganic material.
Predators
Oyster growers at Coffin Bay, South Australia have observed stingrays eating their experimental commercial stocks of Ostrea angasi.
Commercial harvesting
Extensive oyster reefs in southern Australia were largely destroyed by over-exploitation during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Oysters were dredged directly from the seabed.
In the 21st century, commercial oyster growers in southern Australia have started experimentally farming O. angasi as a means to diversify their businesses. This was prompted by other growers suffering massive stock losses of Crassostrea gigas resulting from outbreaks of Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS).
