Shellfish found in and around Barnegat Bay

Mollusks

Bivalves

Phylum mullusca       Class bivalvia 

A mollusk, such as an oyster or a clam, that has a shell consisting of two hinged valves

Clams

Species that live buried in mud or sand and have valves (the two pieces of the shell) of equal size. Clams burrow by means of a muscular foot and are filter feeders who draw in bay water which contain food and oxygen.

Oysters
Species which attach to rocks, pebbles or shells in colonies called beds or reefs. Oysters have two shells which are generally grey in color. The shells are usually oval or pear-shaped, but vary widely in form depending on what they attach to.

 Mussels
Species that have a smooth, bluish-black shell often grow in clumps, attaching themselves to rocks or to each other by means of sticky filaments, sometimes referred to as a “beard”.

Scallops
Species that have shells which are ribbed and possess a distinctive wing-like hinge. Adults can swim by rapidly closing their shells and forcing water out of the unhinged side of the paired shells and propels them forward.

Arthropods

Crustaceans

Phylum anthropoda     Subphylum crusacea

Aquatic arthropods usually having a segmented body and chitinous (tough, protective, semitransparent) exoskeleton.

Crabs
Species characterized by a broad, semi-triangular carapace (shell) covering a joined thorax and abdomen, one set of claws and four other pairs of legs.
Many species of crabs inhabit Barnegat Bay.

Lobsters
Species are ten-legged crustaceans closely related to shrimp and crabs. They are bottom-dwelling, creatures found in all of the world’s oceans, as well as brackish environments.

Shrimp
Species of small marine crustaceans with 10 jointed legs on the thorax, well-developed swimmerets on the abdominal segments, and a body that is compressed laterally.
Shrimp differ from their close relatives, the lobsters and crabs, in that they are primarily swimmers rather than crawlers

Barnacles
Species are crustaceans that have jointed legs and shells of connected overlapping plates. Instead of crawling after food, they glue themselves to rocks, ships, pillings, even whales and wait for food to wash by.

Mollusks

Gastropods

Phylum mullusca    Class gastrapodia 

A Mollusk having a single, usually coiled shell or no shell, a ventral muscular foot and eyes and feelers located on a distinct head

Snails
Species are large marine snails. They are scavengers and carnivores, equipped with an extensible proboscis with which they bore holes through the shells of crabs and mollusks. A large, muscular foot helps to hold their victims.

Whelks
Species are large marine snails. They are scavengers and carnivores, equipped with an extensible proboscis with which they bore holes through the shells of crabs and mollusks. A large, muscular foot helps to hold their victims.

Slugs
Species are marine gastropods that lacks a shell as an adult and is usually brightly colored. Sea slugs and Nudibranchs, creep along the bottom or cling to submerged vegetation, usually in water just below the low tide line.