Shellfish Habitats

Shellfish Habitats

Shellfish Habitats (.jpg - 36k)

All of Cape Cod's shoreline, except for a few areas that are frequently subjected to heavy wave action, are potentially rich shellfish habitats.

There are six commercially important species of shellfish in the Cape Cod waters: soft shelled clams (Mya arenaria), surf clams (Spisula solidissima), blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), oysters (Crassostrea virginica), quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria), and bay scallops (Argopecten irradians). Optimal sediment types and salinities are different for each species, so as natural conditions change the location and types of shellfish beds may change as well.

Another key factor that controls development of shellfish beds is successful larval recruitment, or having a large batch of larval shellfish land in a suitable area to settle and grow into adults. It is believed that these three factors may all contribute to the natural fluctuation in shellfish populations from year to year, with larval recruitment being the primary controlling factor.

Shellfish are important to marine and estuarine food webs, but they also have very important roles in Cape Cod's economy, culture and ecology.

Shellfish beds are very susceptible to damage from human activities, ranging from physical destruction of the beds, to bacterial and viral contamination associated with fecal coliform. Such contamination poses serious health risks and affected beds must be closed to harvesting.