Predators and Parasites

Mammals

~Including us!

Boring Sponge
~Atlantic Ocean to the Bahamas

~Will make its way through the oyster by releasing chemicals that breaks down calcium carbonate and eventually the oyster dies and the sponge has the shell as a new home. Utilities included.

Oyster Drills
~Located in Nova Scotia, Canada to Florida, Northern Europe, the west coast from California to Washington

~Snails drill a hole into the oyster and eat them.

~ Big threat for commercial oyster farms

Whelk
~United Kingdom, France, Norway, Iceland, North Atlantic, Arctic islands, New Jersey

~Behaves the same way as Oyster Drills

~People like to eat Whelk in parts around the world

Crabs~Found on the ocean floor and are omnivores, they will eat anything they can find including oysters!                                                                                            

Lobsters
~Will use their claws to crush the oyster shell and then they eat them

Oyster Flatworm (Worm)

~Victim is cute little oyster spat

~ Attack when they open its valves to eat

Oyster Leech (Worm) 

~ After they have emptied the shell, they lay their eggs inside so they are protected

Sea Stars 
~ Insert their stomach inside of the oyster and its digestive acid will break down the oyster leaving behind a clean shell
Cownose Rays (Fish)

~ Threat to oyster farms

~Atlantic, Caribbean, and down to Brazil

~Crush the oyster with its dental plates

Oyster Toadfish (Fish)

~Hang out on the ocean floor in areas from Maine to the Caribbean

Dermo (Parasitic Disease)
~ Accidentally gets ingested while the oyster is eating

~ Affects the blood cells

~Spreads through decomposing oysters

~Most common in warmer weather

MSX (Parasite)

~ Introduced during the exporting of the Pacific oyster

~Keeps the oyster from getting carbohydrates

QX (Parasite)

~Target is the Sydney Rock oyster in months January – April

~Creates spores inside the oyster’s digestive gland

~Once oyster is dead the parasite will move on to a new host

Water Salinity
~Oysters thrive in waters with a count from 5 to 35ppt

Fouling Organisms
~Barnacles, sea stars, mussel spat, and other organisms will alter the growth of oysters