Empty Flat Oyster shells on the beach (7)

This is the seventh in a series of photographs of empty European Flat Oyster shells, Ostrea edulis Linnaeus, our British Native Oysters, as they were found on the beach. They demonstrate the variability – in shape, colour (both natural and acquired), infestation damage, and encrustation by other marine invertebrates (sustained either in life or after death) – that occurs in this species.

For more pictures and information on oysters in Jessica’s Nature Blog, click here for Oyster Variations.