Pacific Oyster

The Pacific oyster, scientifically Magallana gigas (formerly Crassostrea gigas), is a bivalve native to the temperate coasts of the northwest Pacific in Asia, roughly between 30 and 48 degrees north, and has since been introduced to North America, Australia, Europe and New Zealand. Mature individuals range from 80 to 400 millimetres in length, tolerate temperatures from about -1.8 to 35 degrees Celsius, prefer salinities of 20 to 35 parts per thousand, reach market size in 18 to 30 months, and can live up to 30 years if left unharvested. It is the dominant oyster species in world aquaculture, accounting for 98 percent of cultured oyster production in 2000, with China, Japan, France, South Korea, the United States and Taiwan among the leading producers, valued for being easy to grow and environmentally tolerant. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/