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oyster. This type is referred to in Chinese textbooks as C. gigas Thunberg. The second type is called Chi Hao (4) or red oyster, whose Chinese scientific name is Jin Jiang Mu Li, which translates as the riverine oyster. This type is identified as C. rivularis Gould in Chinese textbooks.
The oystermen's description of the two types is given below, supplemented with notes taken from a Chinese textbook (Nanhai Ocean Research Centre, 1978). This information is included here verbatim, to make it more generally available to English language users.
"White oysters have an elongated oval shape with length about 3 times the width. Colour is usually white or sometimes yellowish brown. There is a fairly large, brownish yellow horseshoe shaped adductor muscle scar. The white oyster is said to have a higher market value because its taste is superior to that of the red oyster; it also is reputed to take longer to reach market size.
"Red oysters have a more variable length to width ratio than the white type and the shell can be round, triangular, oval or elongated. There should be reddish brown or even grey, green or purple streaks on the shell. The scales or laminae which make up the shell are thin and brittle. The adductor muscle scar is of the same size as the white oyster but has an oval or kidney shape. Chinese oysterman reported that the market price was lower than the white oyster but that it reached market size one year earlier.”
Recent work (Morris, 1985) suggests that there is no justification to consider that the "C. rivularis type" animals form a separate species. Gould originally described an oyster from the South China Sea as C. rivularis; the type specimen has not been examined since Gould's initial publication in 1861 and it appears that the specimen could have been C. pestigris. Despite these taxonomical points Morris accepts that further studies, to include soft tissue anatomy and perhaps electrophoresis of blood, may provide evidence that there is more than one oyster species involved in the commercial oyster industry.
172
R.A, BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG AND A.J.E. SMITH
oyster. This type is referred to in Chinese textbooks as C. gigas Thunberg. The second type is called Chi Hao (4) or red oyster, whose Chinese scientific name is Jin Jiang Mu Li, which translates as the riverine oyster. This type is identified as C. rivularis Gould in Chinese textbooks.
The oystermen's description of the two types is given below, supplemented with notes taken from a Chinese textbook (Nanhai Ocean Research Centre, 1978). This information is included here verbatim, to make it more generally available to English language
users.
"White oysters have an elongated oval shape with length about 3 times the width. Colour is usually white or sometimes yellowish brown. There is a fairly large, brownish yellow horseshoe shaped adductor muscle scar. The white oyster is said to have a higher market value because its taste is superior to that of the red oyster; it also is reputed to take longer to reach market size.
"Red oysters have a more variable length to width ratio than the white type and the shell can be round, triangular, oval or elongated. There should be reddish brown or even grey, green or purple streaks on the shell. The scales or laminae which make up the shell are thin and brittle. The adductor muscle scar is of the same size as the white oyster but has an oval or kidney shape. Chinese oysterman reported that the market price was lower than the white oyster but that it reached market size one year earlier.”
Recent work (Morris, 1985) suggests that there is no justifica- tion to consider that the "C. rivularis type" animals form a sepa- rate species. Gould originally described an oyster from the South China Sea as C. rivularis; the type specimen has not been exam- ined since Gould's initial publication in 1861 and it appears that the specimen could have been C. pestigris. Despite these taxonomical points Morris accepts that further studies, to include soft tissue anatomy and perhaps electrophoresis of blood, may provide evidence that there is more than one oyster species in- volved in the commercial oyster industry.
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