Oyster Boy Meets Oyster Girl

It's Valentine's weekend and there's no better time to have THE TALK: how do boy oysters and girl oysters make baby oysters?

First, you have to embrace the transgender nature of oysters. Scientists disagree on the specifics, but they do agree that some oysters change gender during their life. Some researchers say that oysters change several times in their lifespans, some say they switch just once. Some say that they change only in response to an overabundance of oysters of the same sex; others say it's just the ladies who change; and some say that all oysters are born male, and as they get older, change to females (the ultimate cougar). Regardless, there are boy oysters and girl oysters. And you can't tell them apart just by looking at them, says Dr. Ami Wilbur, director of the UNCW Shellfish Hatchery in Wilmington, NC.

Dr. Ami Wilbur, director of the UNCW Shellfish Hatchery,
shows off the oysters she's mating.

Dr. Wilbur should know. She is leading the effort to cross breed Virginia and North Carolina oysters to develop several varieties of fast-growing, certified disease tolerant, restaurant-quality oysters to grow off the North Carolina coast.

So how do you make an oyster mate? (With restraint. They're all so "shellfish.") It starts with a rousing game of shell monty and ends with oyster IVF. Without being able to tell if an oyster is male or female from the outside, the researchers have to open an oyster's shell and examine them under a microscope to look for eggs or sperm. (Privacy, please.) In some seasons, one gender may significantly outnumber another, leaving the researchers in a haste to find a mate, says Wilbur.

Once the team - because it takes a team - finally finds a male and a female, it begins a process called "strip spawning." The ladies have up to 100 million eggs (really, who's counting?) because in the wild she releases her eggs in the open waters. It's a crapshoot whether the eggs find a sperm. In the lab, the eggs and sperm are mixed and watched as they develop into larvae then veliger then to oyster spat. Spat finally become oysters when they reach 25mm, or when Dr. Wilbur says they are ready.

From egg/sperm to larvae to veliger to spat … all in a few weeks.
Designed by Melissa Mitchell, a former volunteer with the
Oyster Spat Monitoring Project at UNCW.

At the UNCW research facility, the spat are carefully marked, fed homegrown algae, and measured often. Some spat are sent to three oyster farms along the North Carolina coast to see how they grow in different waters. Based on the results from the lab and the farms, the best oysters are cross bred again and again in an effort to ultimately develop six to eight varieties of North Carolina oysters.

Each oyster is carefully numbered in the lab's growing tanks.
Only the best move on to breed.

Dr. Wilbur and her team of researchers and farmers are well on their way to breeding great oysters that will thrive in North Carolina. I am a huge fan of North Carolina oysters and I'm throwing down the gauntlet: I would put them up against any East Coast oyster, even Moonstones and Glidden Points. Yep. They just need a little hair and makeup. After Dr. Wilbur gets done with them, they'll be as pretty as their cousins. What's not to love about that?

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SF Oyster Nerd tries a
NC steamed oyster

From one love to another … Who doesn't love Hog Island Oysters? Greg Babinecz, the SF Oyster Nerd and a manager at the soon-to-be-reopened Hog Island Oyster Bar in San Fran, stopped by Wilmington, NC, to swap oyster stories and visit the UNCW Shellfish Hatchery. Along with NC oysterman, Ronald Sheffield, we introduced Greg to his first steamed NC oyster. Steaming concentrates the brininess, and the perfect steam pops in your mouth. Thanks for the visit Greg. Looking forward to a West Coast swing in the near future. Check out his oyster blog at sfoysternerd.blogspot.com.