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 Scallop Dredge
 Scallop
What is the biggest clam caught and eaten in the United States?
The geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) clam caught in Northwest
Pacific waters, weighs an average three pounds and yields over a pound
of flavorful meat.
Photo courtesy of Washington's Outer Limits
What are oyster borers?
An oyster borer, or drill, is an aquatic snail that preys on
oysters, especially thin-shelled young oysters. Using a band of
scraping teeth (a radula) and a shell-dissolving secretion, the
gastropod drills a hole in the oyster shell and eats the creature
within.
How do oysters produce pearls?
Pearls begin with the presence of a foreign substance, such as
a grain of sand, that lodges in the shell. The oyster's body reacts by
depositing layers of nacreous (pearl-like) material around the foreign
body to wall it off and reduce irritation. Many oysters--as well as some
clams and mussels--manufacture material like the pearl- producing
substance. True pearl-producing oysters, however, inhabit waters of the
Indo Pacific.
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Feeding the Woods Hole Oyster
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What is Oyster Spat?
The life cycle of the oyster begins with a free-swimming larval
stage that eventually attaches to a hard substrate forming an oyster
spat. The spat commences a growth period that is classified into
sub-adult and adult phases.
Creating substrate for oyster spat, Milford CT 1930's
  
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