Common oyster

Ostrea edulis

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth2–25 m
Water temperature0–26 °C
Best monthsApril, July, and August
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Yves Bas · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Ostrea edulis, commonly known as the European flat oyster, is a species of oyster native to Europe. In Great Britain and Ireland, localized names include Colchester native oyster, mud oyster, or edible oyster. In France, Ostrea edulis are known as huîtres plates except for those that come from the Belon River estuary in Brittany, France, which are known as Belons.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ostrea edulis”, 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: 288 records
February: 257 records
March: 403 records
April: 720 records
May: 443 records
June: 478 records
July: 851 records
August: 714 records
September: 533 records
October: 489 records
November: 300 records
December: 241 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–25 m · Deepest record: 612 m

0–10 m: 410 records
10–20 m: 226 records
20–30 m: 43 records
30–40 m: 28 records
40–50 m: 12 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 0–26 °C

0–2 °C: 1 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 2 records
10–12 °C: 14 records
12–14 °C: 58 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 30 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 7 records

Photos

(c) Y. Liu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Anna Petrosyan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim Johnson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Duarte Frade, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Greg P, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Common oyster, Edible oyster, European flat oyster, Flat oyster, common oyster, edible oyster, European oyster, flat oyster, Native Oyster

Names in 4 more languages

German: essbare Auster, Europäische Auster, Gemeine Auster
Spanish: ostra común, ostra europea
French: belon, huître comestible, huître plate, huître plate européenne, pied de cheval
Japanese: ヨーロッパヒラガキ

Other scientific names: Monoeciostrea europa, Ostrea adriatica, Ostrea boblayei, Ostrea corbuloides, Ostrea cristata, Ostrea cumana, Ostrea cyrnusii, Ostrea depressa, Ostrea exalbida, Ostrea hippopus, Ostrea lamellosa, Ostrea leonica, Ostrea parasitica, Ostrea rostrata, Ostrea saxatilis, Ostrea scaeva, Ostrea striatum, Ostrea sublamellosa, Ostrea taurica, Ostrea vulgare

Similar species

Angasi oyster
Ostrea angasi
Bluff oyster
Ostrea chilensis
Crested oyster
Ostrea equestris
Ostrea subucula
Japanese Oyster
Magallana gigas
Leaf oyster
Dendostrea folium

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).
13,077 open-data records from 1859 to 2025.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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