Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: Animalia |
| Phylum: Mollusca |
| Class: Bivalvia |
| Order: Ostreida |
| Family: Ostreidae |
| Genus: Crassostrea |
| Species: Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) |
Information
Geological Range
Paleogeographic Distribution
Stratigraphic Occurrences
| Anastasia Formation [Common] |
| Coffee Mill Hammock Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Flanner Beach Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Fort Thompson Formation [Uncommon] |
| Neuse Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Norfolk Formation [Uncommon] |
| Pamlico Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Satilla Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Bermont Formation [Common] |
| Canepatch Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Caloosahatchee Formation [Common] |
| Chowan River Formation [Uncommon] |
| Nashua Formation [Common] |
| Waccamaw Formation [Common] |
| Duplin Formation [Questionable/rare] |
| Duplin / Raysor Formations [Uncommon] |
| Tamiami Formation (Pinecrest Beds) [Common] |
| Yorktown Formation [Uncommon] |
Remarks
Common name: Eastern oyster, Wellfleet oyster, Atlantic oyster, Virginia oyster, or American oyster.
Synonymy: n/a
Type specimen, locality, and stratum: n/a
Other voucher specimens: n/a
Descriptions:
Original Description (from Gmelin, 1791, p. 3336):
“virginica. 113. O. tella fubaequivalvi craffa rudi lamellofa: valvae alterius roltro prominente.
Lift. Conch. t. 200. f. 34.
Chemn. Conch. 8. t. 200. f. 34.
Lift. Conch. t. 201. 35.
Chemn. Conch. 8. t. 74. f. 678.
Habitat in Oceano americano et indico, tefla ad 9 pollices longa, et 4 lata, exalbida, aut ochracea, intus nitente alba.
To access this description in its original formatting through the Biodiversity Heritage Library, click here.
Measurements: n/a
Other remarks:
For information on the modern distribution of the species, see Malacolog.
References: n/a
Online resources: n/a
Page history:
Some of the content on this page was originally published on the Neogene Atlas of Ancient Life on August 7, 2014. It was developed by Jonathan R. Hendricks and colleagues and migrated here in 2026.
This page was last modified on October 28, 2026 by Jonathan R. Hendricks.
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