WFFh,EVC% COPY 

Do Not Remove from the Library 

U. S. Fish clnd Wildlife Service I n I m 

L: 1Ul lU3 1\t;3UUl Ll I LC1 l 

December 1989 

Biological Report 82(11.124) 700 Caj tin Dome Boulevard w 

Lafayekte, Louisiana 70506 

Species Profiles: Life Histories and 

Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes 

and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest) 

OLYMPIA OYSTER 

Coastal Ecology Group 

Fish and Wildlife Service Waterways Experiment Station 

U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
Biological Report 82(11.124) 

TR EL-82-4 

December 1989 

Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements 

of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest) 

OLYMPIA OYSTER 

David Couch 

College of Natural Resources 

Humboldt State University 

Arcata, CA 95521 

and 

Thomas J. Hassler 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

California Cooperative Fishery Research Unit 

Humboldt State University 

Arcata, CA 95521 

Project Officer 

David Moran 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

National Wetlands Research Center 

1010 Gause Boulevard 

Slidell, LA 70458 

Performed for 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Coastal Ecology Group 

Waterways Experiment Station 

Vicksburg, MS 39180 

and 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Research and Development 

National Wetlands Research Center 

Washington, DC 20240 
This series may be referenced as follows: 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1983-19 . Species profiles: life histories and environmental 

requirements of coastal fishes and invertebrates. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 82(11). U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, TR EL-82-4. 

This profile may be cited as follows: 

Couch, D., and T.J. Hassler. 1989. Species profiles: life histories and environmental requirements 

of coastal fishes and invertebrates (Pacific Northwest)--Olympia oyster. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. 

Rep. 82(11.124). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, TR EL-82-4. 8 pp. 
PREFACE 

This species profile is one of a series on coastal aquatic organisms, principally fish, of sport, commercial, 

or ecological importance. The profiles are designed to provide coastal managers, engineers, and biologists 

with a brief comprehensive sketch of the biological characteristics and environmental requirements of the 

species and to describe how populations of the species may be expected to react to environmental changes 

caused by coastal development. Each profile has sections on taxonomy, life history, ecological role, 

environmental requirements, and economic importance, if applicable. A three-ring binder is used for this 

series so that new profiles can be added as they are prepared. This project is jointly planned and financed by 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Suggestions or questions regarding this report should be directed to one of the following addresses. 

Information Transfer Specialist 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

National Wetlands Research Center 

NASA-Slidell Computer Complex 

1010 Gause Boulevard 

Slidell, LA 70458 

U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station 

Attention: WESER-C 

Post Office Box 63 1 

Vicksburg, MS 39180 
CONVERSION TABLE 

Metric to U.S. Customary 

Multiply BY 

millimeters (mm) 0.03937 

centimeters (cm) 0.3937 

meters (m) 3.281 

meters 0.5468 

kilometers (km) 0.6214 

kilometers 0.5396 

square meters (m2) 10.76 

square kilometers (km2) 0.3861 

hectares (ha) 2.471 

liters (1) 3 

0.2642 

cubic meters (m ) 35.3 1 

cubic meters 0.0008 110 

milligrams (mg) 0.00003527 

grams (€9 0.03527 

kilograms (kg) 2.205 

metric tons (t) 2205.0 

metric tons 1.102 

kilocalories (kcal) 3.968 

Celsius degrees (O C) 1.8 (" C) + 32 

U.S. Customary to Metric 

inches 25.40 

inches 2.54 

feet (ft) 0.3048 

fathoms 1.829 

statute miles (mi) 1.609 

nautical miles (nmi) 1.852 

square feet (ft2) 0.0929 

square miles (mi ) 2.590 

acres 0.4047 

gallons (gal)3 3.785 

cubic feet (ft ) 0.0283 1 

acre-feet 1233.0 

ounces (02) 28350.0 

ounces 28.35 

pounds (lb) 0.4536 

pounds 0.00045 

short tons (ton) 0.9072 

British thermal unils (Btu) 0.2520 

Fahrenheit degrees (O F) 0.5556 (" F - 32) 

To 0 btain 

inches 

inches 

feet 

fathoms 

statute miles 

nautical miles 

square feet 

square miles 

acres 

gallons 

cubic feet 

acre-feet 

ounces 

ounces 

pounds 

pounds 

short tons 

British thermal units 

Fahrenheit degrees 

millimeters 

centimeters 

meters 

meters 

kilometers 

kilometers 

square meters 

square kilometers 

hectares 

liters 

cubic meters 

cubic meters 

milligrams 

grams 

kilograms 

metric tons 

metric tons 

kilocalories 

Celsius degrees 
CONTENTS 

Page 

PREFACE ....................................................... CONVERSIONTABLE ............................................. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................ 

NOMENCLATURE/TAXONOMY/RANGE ............................... MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS ............................... REASON FOR INCLUSION IN SERIES ................................. LIFEHISTORY ................................................... THEFISHERY ................................................... ECOLOGICAL ROLE .............................................. ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS ................................. 

REFERENCES ................................................... 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

We thank Kenneth Chew and Terry Nosho, University of Washington, for their reviews and William 

N. Shaw, Humboldt State University, for his review and allowing us to use his collection of rare 

publications. 
Figure 1. Olympia oyster. Single, top; cluster, bottom left; cultured, bottom right. 

OLYMPIA OYSTER 

NOMENCLATURE/TAXONOMYIRANGE Class ...................... Bivalvia 

Order ................... Pteroidea 

Scientific name .......... Ostrea lurida Family ................... Ostreidae 

Preferred common name ....... Olympia 

oyster (Figure 1) Geographic range: The Olympia oyster ranges 

Other common names ......... California from Southeast Alaska to Baja California--in 

oyster, native oyster, shoalwater oyster, tidal channels, estuaries, bays, and sounds; on 

Yaquina Bay oyster, rock oyster. the undersides of floats and on pilings (Fitch 
1953) in protected outer coast locations 

(Allen 1976). Figure 2 shows its distribution 

in the Pacific Northwest. 

MORPHOLOGY/IDENTIFICATION AIDS 

The lower (left) valve is shallowly concave 

and the upper (right) valve fits into the raised 

margin of the opposite valve. Shell shape is 

extremely variable. Shells on substrate will 

conform to the shape of the substrate. The 

shells of free-growing oysters are ovate to 

elongate. The exterior of the shell is without a 

periostracum, varies from white to purplish 

black (Allen 1976), and may be striped with 

yellow or purplish brown (Hertlein 19.59). The 

interior of the valves is white to olive green and 

the scar of the adductor muscle is not much 

darker than the rest of the shell's interior 

(Kozloff 1974). 

REASON FOR INCLUSION IN SERIES 

The Olympia oyster has been commercially 

exploited since the 1850's in the Pacific 

Northwest (Barrett 1963), and it is still 

produced in small quantities by oyster growers 

(Beattie et al. 1982). Habitat available to 

Olympia oysters, besides being naturally limited, 

has been adversely affected by human activities 

(Carlton 1979). Civil engineering projects in 

estuarine areas or in the upland watershed of 

the estuary can further damage Olympia oyster 

populations. 

LIFE HISTORY 

The life history of the Olympia oyster is 

similar to that of other oysters of the genus 

Ostrea. The oyster initially spawns as a male 

then alternates it functional gender between 

each spawning cycle (Coe 1932). 

Spawning begins at water temperatures of 13 

to 16 "C. In the southern portion of the 

oysters' range, spawning occurs from spring to 

fall, peaking in spring and to a lesser extent in 

fall (Coe 1932). In the central part of its 

range, spawning may be a prolonged period or 

may consist of one or two spawning periods in 

mid-summer (Hopkins 1937; Bonnot 1938). In 

the northern portion, there may be only one or 

two spawning periods in mid-summer (Hopkins 

1937). 

Spawning begins when males release clusters 

of sperm into the mantle cavity. These sperm 

balls, which are expelled from the body by 

contractions of the shell, disintegrate in 

seawater and release the spermatozoa. 

Spermatozoa are brought into the mantle cavity 

of the female with water pumped by the gills 

and the eggs are fertilized (Coe 1932). 

Presence of spermatozoa in seawater will 

stimulate synchronous spawning in Olympia 

oysters. The fertilized eggs develop into veliger 

larvae in the oyster's mantle chamber before 

they are discharged 10 to 12 days later. An 

average brood of larvae is 250,000 to 300,000 

(Hopkins 1937). At discharge, the larvae are 

185 to 187 pm long (Hopkins 1937). The 

veliger stage lasts 11 to 16 days (Imai et al. 

1954). 

The larvae develop an eyespot and foot and 

begin to crawl on hard substrate then 

metamorphose into spat. The preferred 

substrate is old oyster shells, but rocks, wood, 

metal, or any other hard material may be used 

as a setting surface (Fasten 1931). Olympia 

oyster spat most often set on the underside of 

horizontal surfaces. This is not a phototrophic 

response, but is attributed to the swimming 

position of the larvae in which the foot is held 

in a superior position (Hopkins 1937). The 

oyster crawls with the foot on the surface and 

glue is secreted from the byssus gland, which 

attaches the shell to the substrate (Galtsoff 

1964). 

Artificial spat collectors that create a 

turbulent waterflow, disrupting the normal 

swimming position of larvae, collect spat on the 

upper and underside of horizontal surfaces 

(Bonnot 1937). Artificial spat collectors, used 

to collect spat commercially, may be boards, 

pipes, or cardboard egg dividers covered with a 

slurry of hydrated lime, portland cement, and 

fine sand. Olympia oysters differ from other 

species in that the substrate on which they 

settle need not be particularly clean and may be 
WASHINGTON 

KILOMETERS 

CALIFORNIA 

OREGON 

Figure 2. Distribution of the Olympia oyster (shaded area) in the Pacific Northwest region. 
placed in the water in advance of spat 

settlement (Korringa 1976). 

The Olympia oyster grows slowly, reaching 

shell heights of 35 to 45 mm in three years in 

Washington State and has little or no growth 

thereafter (K Chew, Fisheries Department, 

University of Washington; pers. comm.). Shell 

height increased 2 mm per week at the Scripps 

Institute of Oceanography in southern 

California. Growth slows as the oysters mature 

but shell heights of 50 mm are sometimes 

reached in 30 weeks (Coe and Allen 1937). 

The maximum reported size of Olympia oysters 

is 75 mm (Hertlein 1959). 

The maximum age of Olympia oysters has not 

been reported. In adults held in long-term 

bioassays, annual mortality was 34% in control 

groups (McKernan et al. 1949). 

THE FISHERY 

The Olympia oyster once supported an Indian 

sustenance fishery and a commercial fishery, and 

was used to establish a maricultural industry on 

the west coast of the United States. 

Examination of Indian kitchen middens near 

San Francisco Bay revealed Olympia oyster 

shells in sufficient quantities to establish the 

animals as an important food item of coastal 

tribes (Barrett 1963). Indians in the southern 

Puget Sound, Washington, region located their 

villages close to Olympia oyster populations 

(Steele 1957). 

Olympia oysters harvested in the Pacific 

Northwest Region were marketed along the 

West Coast. Many were shipped to San 

Francisco on the decks of returning timber 

schooners (Barrett 1963), and those from 

southern Puget Sound were marketed locally or 

shipped to Seattle (Steele 1957). About 10,000 

bushels of wild Olympia oysters were harvested 

in Washington in 1850 and annual production 

had reached 130,000 bushels by the 1890's; by 

1910, however, production had declined to only 

16,000 bushels a year (Beattie et al. 1982). The 

harvests were similar in Oregon (Fasten 1931) 

and California (Barrett 1963). 

The culture of Olympia oysters began in the 

1890's, when oyster growers in southern Puget 

Sound claimed oyster producing tidelands under 

the Callow Act of 1890 which allowed private 

ownership of tidelands (Steele 1957). Early 

husbandry of the oysters was practiced by 

returning oyster shells to oyster reefs which 

provided substrate for new generations of 

oysters. In the early 1900's, the construction of 

dyked oyster beds, which held water at low tide 

and had gravel bottoms, marked a major 

development in oyster culture (Steele 1957). 

Oyster shells (cultch) were placed in locations 

favored for spat collection. Cultch containing 

Olympia oysters was spread in the dyked beds 

and left for 3.5 to 5 years until most of the 

oysters had reached a marketable size or 35-40 

mm (Korringa 1976). These oysters were 

marketed as shucked meats rather than in the 

shell. 

Olympia oyster production by oyster farmers 

peaked from 1897 to 1908, at 63,000 gallons of 

oyster meats a year. Production declined to 

42,000 gallons a year in the 1920's and 

continued to fall to 10,000 gallons by the 1940's 

(Gunter and McKee 1960). Production in 1979 

and 1980 was less than 600 gallons of meat a 

year (Solomon and Mills 1983). Oyster growers 

in southern Puget Sound would like to increase 

their production of Olympia oysters (Beattie et 

al. 1982). It takes 1,200 to 1,500 shucked 

Olympia oysters to make a gallon of meats 

(Matthiessen 1970). The 1986 market value of 

Olympia oyster meats was $200 a gallon (D. 

McMillin, Olympia Oyster Company, Shelton, 

Washington; pers. comm.), and $2.50 to $3.50 a 

dozen in the shell (K Chew, pers. comm.). 

The decline in cultured Olympia oyster 

production was attributed to urbanization and 

domestic pollution (Galtsoff 1930) and industrial 

pollution (Korringa 1976). The discharge of 

sulphite waste liquor from pulp mills has been 

especially destructive to oysters. Major growing 

grounds previously used for Olympia oysters are 

used to grow Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) 

thus further reducing production of Olympia 

oysters (McKernan et al. 1949). 

ECOLOGICAL ROLE 

Olympia oysters survive in a broad range of 

habitats but are most abundant in estuaries 

small rivers and streams (Korringa 1976). 
Olympia oyster reefs are formed in the subtidal zone and are bordered by mud flats at 

high elevations and by eel grass beds at low 

elevations. They are found at depths of 0 to 

71 m (Hertlein 1959). Oysters may attach to 

the underside of rocks higher in the intertidal 

zone where the bottom is gravel or rock 

(Kozloff 1973). 

Olympia oysters are filter feeders and rely on 

phytoplankton in the tidal waters as a food 

source. The ostia--gill openings through which 

water passes--are larger in the Olympia oyster 

than in the Japanese oyster. The large ostia 

result in the selection of larger food items and 

do not allow the Olympia oyster to consume 

nannoplankton (Elsey 1935). 

The assemblage of invertebrates in bays of 

the Pacific coast is currently cosmopolitan, 

owing to the introduction of exotic species 

(Hedgepeth et al. 1981). Possibly some displacement of native species by invading exotic 

species has occurred (Carlton 1979). 

Several introduced predators and parasites 

attack Olympia oysters. Two introduced 

invertebrate predators of Olympia oysters are 

the Japanese oyster drill Ocenebrajaponica and 

the flatworm Pseudostylochus ostreophagus. 

These two species were introduced with regular 

sea shipments of Pacific oyster spat from Japan. 

The copepod Mytilicola orientalis ("red worm") 

lives in the anus of oysters, and oysters infected 

by it are usually in poor condition (Sinderman 

1974); this species was also introduced from 

Japan. In southern Puget Sound, the slipper 

shell Crepidula fornicata may compete with 

Olympia oysters for food and space and is a 

major fouling organism on the oyster's shell. 

This slipper shell was introduced from the East 

Coast with the shipment of American oysters 

(Crassostrea virginica). Other pests are the 

ghost shrimp (Callianassa californiensis) and the 

blue mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis). The 

burrowing activity of these shrimp stirs up 

sediment and also weakens the dykes used for 

culturing oysters. 

feed on Olympia oysters (Galtsoff 1930), and 

the rock crab Cancer productus is an important 

predator over much of the oyster's range. In 

California, the bat ray Myliobatis californica is 

an oyster predator (Matthiessen 1970). In 

Yaquina Bay, Oregon, histological examination 

of Olympia oysters has revealed a proliferative 

cellular disorder characterized by large, 

apparently abnormal cells that proliferate rapidly 

and cause death. The etiology of this disease is 

unknown (Mix 1976). Tissue examination of 

oysters from Puget Sound, Washington, 

collected after cold-water mortality showed the 

presence of Hexamita sp. and bacteria. 

Experimentation showed that Hexamita, a 

flagellated protozoan, could be transmitted to 

healthy oysters and act as a pathogen at low 

temperatures (Stein et al. 1961). 

ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS 

Estuarine habitat along the Pacific coast is 

limited and has been adversely affected by 

human activities (Carlton 1979). Silt from 

highway construction has caused high mortality 

by smothering oysters in shallow areas of 

southern Puget Sound. Olympia oyster 

populations have never recovered to their preexploitation levels (Kincaid 1951). 

Olympia oysters are sensitive to extreme high 

or low temperatures (Matthiessen 1970). 

Average water temperatures for southern Puget 

Sound are 6 to 9 "C in winter and 18 to 20 "C 

in summer (Hopkins 1937). In Olympia oysters 

held at M-ilford, Connecticut, through the 

winter, mortalities were 100% at -1.0 to 5.0 "C 

and 3% at 12.0 to 13.0 "C (Davis 1955). 

Olympia oysters thrive at salinities above 

25 ppt but tolerate occasional short exposure to 

lower salinities (Korringa 1976). Some oyster 

growers overcome predation from flatworms and 

drills by using oyster grounds which have flows 

of freshwater at low tide. The Olympia oysters 

can survive the salinity change but the 

flatworms and eggs of the drill cannot (D. 

McMillin, pers. comm.). 

Olympia oysters have several natural Pollution has also affected the Olympia 

predators. Some sea ducks (scaups and scoters) oyster. The discharge of sulphite waste liquor 
from a pulp mill near Shelton, Washington, may 

have impacted Olympia oysters throughout the 

southern Puget Sound region. Spat production 

failed, and adult oysters failed to fatten normally 

(Korringa 1976). In Humboldt Bay, California, 

where the city of Arcata discharges its municipal 

wastewater about 1 km from the northern area 

of the State native oyster preserve (Barrett 

1963), Olympia oysters still form a reef 

and have repopulated much of Humboldt Bay, 

allowing a sport harvest (California Department 

of Fish Game 1987). 

Olympia oysters may be able to exclude small 

amounts of petroleum, including outboard motor 

wastes, for short periods by closing their shells 

(Clark et al. 1974). Exposure for 10 days 

caused some mortality, however. A conservative 

estimate of the portion of outboard motor fuel 

discharge into the water is about 10%. 
Allen, R.K. 1976. Common intertidal inverte- Coe, W.R., and W.E. Allen. 1937. Growth of 

brates of southern California, rev. ed. Peek sedentary marine organisms on experimental 

Publications, Palo Alto, Calif. 316 pp. blocks and plates for nine successive years. 

Bull. Scripps Inst. Oceanogr. Univ. Calif. 

Barrett, E.M. 1963. The California oyster Tech. Ser. 4(4):101-136. 

industry. Calif. Dep. Fish Game Fish Bull. 

123. 103 pp. Davis, H.C. 1955. Mortality of Olympia oysters 

at low temperatures. Biol. Bull. 109(3):404- 

Beattie, J.H., D. McMillin, and L. Wiegardt. 406. 

1982. The' Washington State oyster ind;stry: Elsey, C--.R. 1935. On the structure and 

a brief overview. Pages 28-38 Proceedings function of the mantle and gill of Ostrea of the North American Oyster Workshop, lurida and Ostrea gigas. Soc. Can. Trans. Seattle, Wash., Mar. 6-8, 1981. World 

Maricultural Soc. Spec. Publ. No. 1. 79(5):131-160 pp. 

Bonnot, P. 1938. Report of the California 

oyster industry for 1937. Calif. Fish Game 

24(2):191-195. 

Bonnot, P. 1937. Setting and survival of spat 

of the Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida on upper 

and lower horizontal surfaces. Calif. Fish 

Game 23 (3):224-288. 

California Department of Fish and Game. 

1987. California sport fishing regulation 

292.05. Calif. Fish Game, Sacramento. 

Carlton, J.T. 1979. History, biogeography and 

ecology of the introduced invertebrates of the 

Pacific Coast of North America. Ph.D. 

Thesis. University of California, Davis. 

904 pp. 

Clark, R.C., Jr., J.S. Finley, and G.G. Gibson. 

1974. Acute effects of outboard motor 

effluent on two marine shellfish. Environ. 

Sci. Technol. 8: 1009- 1014. 

Coe, W.R. 1932. Development of the gonads 

and the sequence of the sexual phases in the 

California oyster (Ostrea lurida). Bull. Scripps 

Inst. Oceanogr. Univ. Calif. Tech. Ser. 

3(6):119-144. 

Fasten, N. 1931. The Yaquina oyster beds of 

Oregon. Am. Nat. 65434-468. 

Fitch, J.E. 1953. Common marine bivalves of 

California. Calif. Dep. Fish Game Fish Bull. 

90. 102 pp. 

Galtsoff, P.S. 1930. The oyster industry of the 

Pacific coast of the United States. Appendix 

8 Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish. 1929367-400. 

Galtsoff, P.S. 1964. The American oyster 

Crassostrea virginica Gmelin. U.S. Fish Wildl. 

Serv. Fish. Bull. 64:l-480. 

Gunter, G., and J. McKee. 1960. On oysters 

and sulphite waste liquor. A special 

consultant's report. Wash. Pollut. Control 

Comm. 93 pp. 

Hedgepeth, J.W., and S. Obrebski. 1981. 

Willapa Bay: a historical perspective and a 

rationale for research. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. 

Biol. Serv. Program FWSIOBS-81/03. 52 pp. 

Hertlein, L.G. 1959. Notes on California 

oysters. Veliger 25-10. 

Hopkins, A.E. 1937. Experimental observations 

on spawning, larval development, and setting 
in the Olympia oyster Ostrea lurida. U.S. 

Bur. Fish. Bull. 48:439-503. 

Imai, T., Sukai, S., and Okada, H. 1954. 

Breeding of the Olympia oyster in tanks and 

culture experiments in Japanese waters. 

Tohoku J. Agric. Res. 5(1):13-251. 

Kincaid, T. 1951. The oyster industry of 

Willapa Bay, Washington. Calliostoma 

Company, Ilwaco, Wash. 45 pp. 

Korringa, P. 1976. Farming the flat oysters of 

the genus Ostrea: A multidisciplinary treatise. 

Elsevier, Amsterdam. 238 pp. 

Kozloff, E.N. 1973. Seashore life of Puget 

Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the San 

Juan Archipelago, University of Washington 

Press, Seattle. 282 pp. 

Kozloff, E.N. 1974. Keys to the marine 

invertebrates of Puget Sound, the San Juan 

Archipelago, and adjacent regions. University 

of Washington Press, Seattle. 226 pp. 

Matthiessen, G.C. 1970. A review of oyster 

culture and the oyster industry in North 

America. Woods Hole Oceanogr. Inst. 

Contrib. No. 2528. 52 pp. 

McKernan, D.L., V. Tartar, and R. Tollefson. 

1949. An investigation of the decline of the 

native oyster industry of the State of 

Washington, with special reference to the 

effects of sulphite pulp-mill waste on the 

Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida). Wash. State 

Dep. Fish Biol. Bull. No. 49-A:117-165. 

Mix, M.C. 1976. A review of the cellular 

proliferative disorders of oysters Ostrea lurida 

from Yaquina Bay, Oregon. Pages 275-282 in 

C.J. Dawe, ed. Progress in experimental 

tumor research; v. 20. Symposium on tumors 

in aquatic animals, Cork, Ireland. Karger, 

New York, N.Y. 

Sinderman, C.J. 1974. Disease diagnosis and 

control in North American marine aquaculture. Elsevier Scientific Publishing 

Company, New York. 329 pp. 

Solomon, F., and M.L. Mills. 1983. Location, 

harvest, and economic values of salmon, 

baitfish, groundfish and shellfish resources. 

Summarized from the WDF-Sponsored 

Testimony in the Northern Tier Pipeline Case 

(Proposed Cross-Sound Route) with updated 

figures for 1979 and 1980. Wash. State Dep. 

Fish. Tech. Rep. 76. 

Stein, J.E., J.G. Denison, and J.G. Mackin. 

1961. Hexamita sp. and an infectious disease 

on the commercial oyster Ostrea lurida. Proc. 

Natl. Shellfish. Assoc. 50:67-82. 

Steele, E.N. 1957. The rise and decline of the 

Olympia oyster. Fulco Publication Elma, 

Wash. 125 pp. 
4. Title and Subtitle 

Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal 

Fishes and Invertebrates (Pacific Northwest)--Olympia Oyster 

SO272 -101 

1 5. Repor( Date I December 1989 I 

REPORT DOCUMENTATION I No. 2. 

PAGE Biological Report 82(11.124)* ~ 

7. AuthorW I David Couch and Thomas H. Hassler 

3. Rec~p~cnt's Accesston NO. 

8. Performing Organization Rept. 1 NO. 

12. Sponsorins Organizatlon Name and Address 

U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Ecology Group 

9. Performing Organization Name and Address U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service College of Natural Resources 

Humboldt State University Calif. Coop- Fishery Fksearch Unit 

Humboldt State University Arcata, California 95521 Arcata, California 95521 

Research and Development Waterways ~xperiment Station I National Wetlands Research Center Vicksburg, MS 39180 

Washington, D.C. 20240 

10. ProiectlT8sklWork Unit No. 

11. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No, 

(C) 

I 13. Type of Repor( & Perlod Covered 

-- I 

15. Supplementary Notes 

*U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Report No. TR EL-82-4 

16. Abstract (Limit: 200 words) 

Species profiles are literature summaries of the taxonomy, morphology, range, life history, and 

environmental requirements of coastal aquatic species. They are designed to assist in environmental 

impact assessments. Olympia oysters initially spawn as males then alternate their functional genders. 

Spawning begins at 13-16 "C and occurs from spring to fall. After a short planktonic stage, larvae 

attach to the substrate. Olympia oysters thrive at salinities of 25 ppt or above; they are killed by 

freezing temperatures. Olympia oysters once supported large sustenance and commercial fisheries. 

Olympia oysters have not returned to pre-exploitation population levels which declined because of 

pollution and loss of habitat. 

17. Oocument Analysis a. Descriptors 

Estuaries Life cycles Feeding habits competition 

Oysters Pollution Growth 

Salinity Sediment Water pollution 

Temperature Suspended solids Aquaculture 

b. IdentltlenlWen.Ended Terms 

Olympia oyster Spat settlement 

Ostrea lurida Habitat loss 

Spawning 

10. Avaolabatity Statement 1 19. Sccurltv Class (This Report) 

Unclassified 

21. No. of Pages 

8 

Unlimited release r- 20. Security class (This Page) 

Unclassified 

(See ANSI-239.18) 

I = price 

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wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish 

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our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that their 

development is in the best interests of all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation 

communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. 

administration. 

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FlSH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 

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NASA-Slidell Computer Complex 

101 0 Gause Boulevard 

Slidell, LA 70458