Eastern Oyster
                         Crassostrea virigica


Habitat:  along eastern North America from Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class:  Bivalvia
Order:  Ostreoida
Family:  Ostreidae
Genus:  Crassostrea
Species:  virginica

     The eastern oyster is asymmetrical.  A structural adaptation is they have thicker shells that are defense against predators.  A behavioral adaptation is that they use their gills to absorb oxygen and strain food from the water.  A functional adaptation is that they make small pearls to surround particles that come in the shell.  An interesting fact about the eastern oyster is that they prevent erosion.  Their prey are plankton.  Their predators are the parasites that cause infection and humans.  They are heterotrophic and ectothermic.