The first person to eat an oyster must have been very hungry and very adventurous.
These amazing mollusks, whose fleshy texture is hard to describe, sort of like a large wad of soft chewing gum, come in a variety of interesting flavors, from salty sweet to earthy. They’re an amazing part of the ecology of the lower St. Johns River.
Our local oyster, also called Eastern, American, Atlantic or Virginia Oyster, has the scientific name Crassostrea virginica. The genus name Crassostrea is from Greek and Latin words meaning “shell” or “bone,” while the species name virginica was given in 1791 when Johann Friedrich Gmelin published the description of an oyster probably collected and sent to him from Virginia.
Oysters grow in clusters referred to as beds or reefs. Oyster beds can be either completely below water, or within the intertidal zone, where they are exposed during part of the tidal cycle. The oysters living within the intertidal zone can often be seen and heard opening and closing their valves rapidly, resulting in a spitting of water and sometimes a snapping sound. This can make the otherwise tranquil beds look active and noisy.
In addition to the oysters, which can number hundreds per square meter, there are a host of other animals in the reefs. These include several different types of fish, crabs and worms. The crabs and worms crawl between and among the shells and help keep silt and sediment from covering the oysters. There is also a very unusual shrimp called a pistol or snapping shrimp that can be found in our oyster reefs. The snapping shrimp has one claw much larger than the other and modified to be able to snap shut quickly. This also produces a loud pop and sometimes a small flash of light.
Oyster connoisseurs will tell you to eat oysters only in months containing an “r.” The old wives’ tale or myth that they are poisonous during May, June, July and August is false. But it is during this time that they reproduce and all their energy goes into making sperm and eggs. The oyster becomes a mere shadow of its winter self. More on that in a later column.
ASK RIVER LIFE
Can you eat oysters from the St. Johns River?
Regretfully, no. Oysters are very effective filter feeders and can remove very small particles from the water as it passes through their gills. This can include bacteria harmful to humans. Currently no one monitors the bacteria level near oyster beds, so it is best not to eat oysters from the St. Johns or its tributaries. But that may change. The city of Jacksonville is exploring doing that monitoring, but it will be years before the oyster beds are deemed safe for harvest.
Email A. Quinton White, executive director of Jacksonville University’s Marine Science Research Institute, with questions about our waterways at email@example.com. For more on the MSRI, visit ju.edu/msri.