Oyster

Oyster
	Pacific oyster from the Marennes-Oléron basin in France
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Subclass:	Pteriomorphia
Groups included
	Anomiidae – saddle oysters; Dimyidae – dimyarian oysters; Ostreidae – true oysters; Placunidae – windowpane oysters; Pteriidae – feather oysters; Spondylidae – spiny oysters;
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
	All other members of: Anomioidea; Ostreida; Ostreoidea; Pectinoidea; Pterioidea;

Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.

Some types of oysters are commonly consumed (cooked or raw), and in some locales, they are regarded as a delicacy. Some types of pearl oysters are harvested for the pearl produced within the mantle. Others such as the translucent Windowpane oysters, are harvested for their shells.

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