Flat Tree Oyster

• Its clusters on mangrove roots create microhabitat for crabs, worms and juvenile fish.
• The straight hinge with a row of parallel grooves makes its valves very easy to identify on the beach.
• It forms dense clusters on the aerial roots of red mangrove, one of the characteristic features of the mangrove community.
• Its shell is highly compressed, flattened and irregular, and takes the shape of whatever it attaches to.
• It is a filter feeder tolerant of the variable salinity of mangroves and of exposure to air at low tide.
• It has been used as a biomonitor of heavy metals in Caribbean coastal waters.

Habitat and environment

Mangrove roots and hard structures in the shallow waters of the Caribbean

Sources consulted: Gmelin (1791); Smithsonian Marine Station; estudios de biomonitorización en el Caribe