Japanese Oyster

Magallana gigas

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–13 m
Water temperature10–29 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and July
How commonCommon

Photo credit: no rights reserved, uploaded by Al Kordesch · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

The Pacific oyster, also called the Japanese oyster, is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pacific oyster”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 1,030 records
February: 1,530 records
March: 1,157 records
April: 1,851 records
May: 2,002 records
June: 1,763 records
July: 2,003 records
August: 1,686 records
September: 1,761 records
October: 1,323 records
November: 1,684 records
December: 846 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–13 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 1,587 records
10–20 m: 100 records
20–30 m: 92 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–29 °C

8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 80 records
12–14 °C: 106 records
14–16 °C: 14 records
16–18 °C: 9 records
18–20 °C: 21 records
20–22 °C: 42 records
22–24 °C: 15 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 12 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Rosser1954, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Emily Roberts, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Emily Roberts · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Alex Stuart, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rebekah Bajkó, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Japanese Oyster, Miyagi Oyster, Pacific cupped oyster, Pacific giant oyster, Pacific Oyster

Names in 6 more languages

German: Pazifische Auster, Pazifische Felsenauster
Spanish: ostión japonés, Ostra del Pacífico, Ostra japonesa, ostra rizada
French: Huître creuse, huître creuse du Pacifique, Huître creuse, Huître japonaise, Huître du Pacifique, Huître portugaise, Huître japonaise
Japanese: マガキ, 真牡蠣
Korean: 굴
Simplified Chinese: 太平洋牡蠣, 長牡蠣

Other scientific names: Crassostrea (Magallana) gigas, Crassostrea gigas, Crassostrea laperousii, Crassostrea posjetica, Crassostrea talienwhanensis, Dioeciostrea hispaniola, Lopha (Ostreola) posjetica, Ostraea cymbaeformis, Ostraea rostralis, Ostrea gigas, Ostrea gravitesta, Ostrea laperousii, Ostrea posjetica, Ostrea talienwhanensis

Similar species

Black-Scar Oyster
Magallana bilineata
Magallana nippona
Leaf oyster
Dendostrea folium
Coon oyster
Dendostrea frons
hooded oyster
Saccostrea cuccullata
Fingerprint oyster
Alectryonella plicatula

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
16,759 open-data records from 1874 to 2026.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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