During the Triassic Period, approximately 190 million years ago, Crassostrea virginica first appeared. The eastern oyster has remained relatively unchanged since that time. This mollusk is found throughout much of the Bay in water depths up to 100 feet. Although, today they are rarely found below 30 feet. The adaptive nature of the oyster in a changing estuarine environment allowed it to become extremely successful.

Contributing to this success have been its relatively simple morphology, anatomy and ecological niche. In this laboratory, learn about the external and internal anatomy of the eastern oyster.

• On to the Laboratory:
  External Anatomy
  Internal Anatomy

• Glossary of Terms

• Bibliography

• Teacher Resources (5E)

• Acknowledgements

• Download the Laboratory:
  anatlab.sit (mac stuffit file, ~3.3 MB compressed)
  anatlab.zip (pc zip file, ~3.3 MB)
  Last update 04/28/00

Note: The laboratory activities use one or more JavaScripts and work best with Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later.

This page was last updated on April 20, 2000

This page is part of the Maryland Sea Grant Oyster web site.

For more information, report problems or provide comments, please contact: Maryland Sea Grant 0112 Skinner Hall College Park, MD 20742 Phone: (301) 405-6379 Email: mdsg@mdsg.umd.edu Web: www.mdsg.umd.edu