Crested oyster

About this species

Ostrea equestris, commonly known as the crested oyster or horse oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Ostreidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North and South America, ranging from Virginia to Patagonia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ostrea equestris”, 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: 31 records
February: 34 records
March: 19 records
April: 22 records
May: 36 records
June: 37 records
July: 16 records
August: 37 records
September: 24 records
October: 24 records
November: 37 records
December: 40 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–34 m · Deepest record: 146.3 m

0–10 m: 85 records
10–20 m: 21 records
20–30 m: 7 records
30–40 m: 11 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–29 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 16 records
24–26 °C: 159 records
26–28 °C: 82 records
28–30 °C: 6 records

Photos

(c) Mary Spilman, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Mary Spilman · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jacob Weston, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Steven Joyner, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Brandon McCracken, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Brandon Corder, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) CK2AZ, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Crested oyster, crested oyster, Horse Oyster

Names in 2 more languages

German: Atlantische Kammauster
Spanish: Ostión de cresta

Other scientific names: Ostrea aupouria, Ostrea spreta, Ostreola equestris

Similar species

Angasi oyster
Ostrea angasi
Common oyster
Ostrea edulis
Bluff oyster
Ostrea chilensis
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).
467 open-data records from 1890 to 2024.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.