Types of Oysters: The Five Species Worth Knowing

Crassostrea virginica — the Atlantic oyster

The oyster of the entire North American East Coast and Gulf, from New Brunswick to Texas, and the single most common oyster in the index (158 varieties). Teardrop-shaped, firm, with a shallow-to-moderate cup and a clean, briny profile that finishes crisp rather than sweet.

Names you will recognise — Blue Point, Wellfleet, Malpeque, Beausoleil, Chincoteague, Apalachicola — are all virginica. Differences between them are entirely site: a Malpeque from cold Prince Edward Island water is lean and sharp, a Gulf oyster from warm shallow water is mild, big, and soft.

Crassostrea gigas — the Pacific oyster

Native to Japan, now grown on every continent that farms oysters and the backbone of the industry outside the American East Coast (135 varieties here). Deeply cupped, fluted, frilly-shelled, usually larger and always more sweet-and-vegetal than virginica. Cucumber and melon notes are a species signature.

Kumamoto — Crassostrea sikamea — is a close cousin often shelved with gigas: small, very deep-cupped, sweet, and the most reliable oyster to hand someone who thinks they dislike oysters.

Ostrea edulis — the European flat

The Belon, the native, the plate. Round, flat, and unmistakable: intensely mineral and metallic, with a long finish that divides tables. Only 31 varieties in the index, because the species was devastated by disease across Europe in the twentieth century and has never fully recovered.

Note that "Belon" properly refers to flats finished in the Belon river in Brittany. Almost everything sold as Belon outside France is an edulis grown somewhere else. It is not a fraud so much as a genericised name.

Ostrea lurida and Saccostrea glomerata

Olympia (Ostrea lurida) is the only oyster native to the American West Coast: tiny, coppery, and intensely flavoured for its size. Coin-sized, and priced accordingly.

Sydney rock (Saccostrea glomerata) is Australia's native and one of the great oysters of the world — slow-growing, dense, and deeply savoury, with a sweetness that arrives late. Rarely exported, which is why it is under-known outside Australia.

East Coast versus West Coast, honestly

The shorthand holds up better than most shorthand. East Coast oysters (virginica) tend to be briny, firm, and clean-finishing. West Coast oysters (gigas and sikamea) tend to be sweeter, creamier, more vegetal, with deeper cups.

Where it breaks down is at the extremes: a cold-water gigas from British Columbia can out-brine a warm Gulf virginica easily. Use the species as a starting hypothesis and the salinity score as the actual answer.

Common questions