Types and Categories of Shellfish

Food Commodities
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Shellfish

▪ Shellfish Categories
▪ Purchasing & Storage of fresh/frozen
▪ Identifying Crustacean
▪ Identifying Echinoderms
▪ Identifying Mollusks
- Univalve
- Bivalve
- Cephalopods
Learning Objectives

Crustaceans
Crabs
Prawns
Lobsters
Mollusks
Cockles
Clams
Oyster
Echinoderms
Sea Urchin
Sea Cucumber
Shellfish Categories

Shellfish are aquatic animals protected by some sort of shell. Based on
skeletal structure, they can segmented into
▪ CRUSTECEANS
▪ Lobster, Shrimp, Prawn, Crayfish, Crawfish, Crab
▪ ECHINODERMS - “spiny skin"
▪ MOLLUSK
▪ Univalve – One Shell
▪ Bivalve – Two Shell
▪ Cephalopod– No Shell “head & feet”
Shellfish Categories

Purchasing Shellfish
When purchasing fresh shellfish it is extremely important to
ensure that they are alive.
▪ Never use dead shellfish unless they have been purchased
frozen.
▪ Never refreeze defrosted shellfish.
How do I know they are alive?
▪ All shellfish are potentially hazardous foods, if there is an off
smell, such as ammonia, then discard.
▪ Crustaceans – will be alert and moving
▪ Univalve – no off smells and opening well closed
▪ Bivalve – shells firmly closed, if open, tap them on counter top
and if they do not close then discard.

▪ Crab, lobsters and other live shellfish should be packed in
seaweed or damp paper upon delivery.
▪ If a lobster tank is not available, store directly in perforated
pans at 40F / 4C. DO NOT allow fresh water to come in contact
with them.
▪ Clams, mussels and oysters purchased in their shell should be
stores in perforated pans.
▪ They SHOULD NOT be iced or sealed in a closed container.
Store at 35F - 40F / 2C - 4C.
Storage Shellfish

1. Crustaceans

All crustaceans have an outside articulated shell
▪ Lobster - Homard
▪ Shrimp – Crevettes
▪ Prawn (Dublin Bay) – Langoustine - Scampi
▪ Crawfish – Langoust (Spiny Lobster)
▪ Crayfish – Écrevisse
▪ Crab – Crabe
Crustaceans

Cold Water Lobster
Maine Lobster - Homarus americanus, also known as “American
lobster,” or “Northern Lobster”. From the genus Homarus, of the family
Nephropidae.
There are two different species of cold water or clawed lobsters:
American lobster and European lobster.
The two types of lobster are similar in size but the European lobsters
typically have a darker color and the claws may be slightly smaller.
The American Lobsters is found in cold, shallow waters as far north as
New Found land and as far south as North Carolina, but is generally
associated with the waters around the Canadian Maritimes, Maine,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
Lobsters

Lobsters
Maine Lobster

Maine Lobster Video

Warm Water Spiny Lobster
Warm Water Spiny Lobster - Panulirus argus, also know as
langouste or rock lobsters, from the genius Panulirus and from the
family Palinuridae
The are approximately four dozen species of warm water lobsters
found in warm waters of the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and the
coast of Asia.
They have a tail and a “head” (carapace) that looks similar to those
of a cold water lobster, but warm water lobsters do not have
claws, and instead have long spiny antennae. The only edible meat
in a warm water lobster is found in the lobster’s tail.

How to catch lobster Video

Broil lobster Video

Indonesia Lobster
▪ Lobster Mutiara
▪ Lobster Pasir
▪ Lobster Warna
▪ Lobster Pakistan
▪ Lobster Batu
▪ Lobster Bambu

Lobster Pasir
Lobster Mutiara
Lobster Bambu
Lobster Batu

Types of Shrimp
▪ Warm Water Shrimp – Found in tropical waters. Classified by
color: pink (sweet & tender), brown (briny & firm), white
(sweet & mild).
▪ Cold Water Shrimp – Found in North Atlantic & North Pacific.
Smaller than warm water shrimp.
▪ Fresh Water Shrimp – Farm raised (Hawaii & CA). Soft & mild.
▪ Tiger Shrimp - Found in South Pacific., Africa & India. Grayish-
black strips on grayish-blue shells. Mild & briny.
▪ Rock Shrimp – Hard-shell found in Gulf of Mexico. Flavor &
texture close to crawfish & lobster.
Shrimp

Can be purchased
▪ Fresh (green shrimp) or frozen
▪ Head on or off.
▪ Sold by count
- 21 – 26 count refers to the number per lb
- U 10 refers to less than 10 per lb.
▪ P & D means peeled and deveined.

Dublin Bay Prawns or in Italian, “Scampi” are similar in
appearance to shrimp, but are actually related to the spiny
lobster and are distinguished by a branching gill structure
Slightly sweet, very delicate flesh.
Prawns

Prawns

▪ Crayfish also known as Crawfish. They are freshwater crustaceans
resembling and related to small lobsters but either have very small
claws or no claws.
▪ Like other edible crustaceans, only a small portion of the body of a
crayfish is edible.
▪ In most prepared dishes, such as soups, bisques and for garnish of
dishes
▪ In 1983, Louisiana designated the crayfish, or crawfish as they are
commonly referred, as their official state crustacean.
▪ Louisiana produces 100 million pounds of crawfish per year with the
red swamp and white river crawfish being the two most popular
species to harvest.
Crayfish/ Crawfish

How to Catch Crayfish Video

ATLANTIC SPECIES
BLUE CRAB
▪ Atlantic Ocean from Cape Cod south to Florida and into the Gulf of
Mexico, Blue crabs appear along the Eastern Shore in the spring just
before warm weather begins.
▪ Blue crab meat is sold either fresh or pasteurized.
▪ After the crabs are steamed, the meat is picked over and then packed into
cans, sorted as either
- “lump meat” (solid, whole lump meat from the body),
- “flake meat” (small pieces of meat from the body)
- “claw meat” (meat from the claws that is usually brown in color).
▪ Blue crab meat has a sweet, buttery flavor, but its texture depends on
what part of the crab the meat comes from.
Crab

JONAH CRAB
Nova Scotia to Long Island. Also know as “Peeky Toe crab,” in the same family
as the Dungeness crab, but has less meat than its West Coast cousin.
STONE/SPIDER CRAB
Stone crab is a type of Spider crab found in the Atlantic Ocean from North
Carolina southward through the Florida Keys and into the Caribbean.
It has a rock-like, oval-shaped outer shell inspire.
▪ Stone crab season begins on October and ends on April.
▪ To protect the species, commercial fishermen are only allowed to keep
one claw and release the rest of the catch.
▪ capabilities, since claws are used for only defensive purposes. It can take
up to two years for the crab to regenerate another claw.
▪ Stone Crab claw meat is sweet and delicate with a flavor and texture
similar to the claw meat of the Maine lobster.

PACIFIC SPECIES
DUNGENESS CRAB
▪ A native of cold Pacific Ocean waters from Mexico to Alaska. The harvest
season begins in November and runs through August. Production usually
peaks in December through March. To protect the breeding population.
▪ Only male crabs larger than a set minimum size (6¼-in) can be harvested and
fishing is prohibited during the breeding season. The circular pots used to
catch Dungeness crab are highly selective traps, meaning that by catch is not
an issue.
▪ Dungeness crab meat is sold either fresh or frozen (crabs are steamed, the
meat is picked and then canned), as “leg meat” (usually the most prized and
most expensive), or as “broken leg meat” or “body meat.
▪ Dungeness crab meat has a light, slightly nutty flavor and a delicate
sweetness.

ALASKA KING CRAB
▪ British Columbia north through Northern Alaska. There are three
commercial King crab species: Red King crabs, Blue King crabs and Golden
King crabs. Each species is harvested from late autumn through early
winter.
▪ King crab is sold either whole or as “legs and claws” (individual whole legs
and claws that have been separated at the shoulder), “split legs”
(individual whole legs that have been split in half lengthwise), “select
portions” (the meatiest section of the leg, considered by crab lovers to be
the most desirable part of the crab), or “broiler claws” (single claws scored
around the top so the shell can be easily removed to expose the tender
white meat).
▪ King crab meat is firm and sweet with a bright membrane and white flesh.
Red King
▪ Crab is the most prized of the three species.

SNOW CRAB
▪ Found primarily in Alaskan and Canadian waters.
▪ The Alaskan Snow crab harvest usually runs mid January through March.
▪ Both the King crab and Snow crab fisheries are closely managed by Alaska
Department of Fish and Game.
▪ Snow crab meat is a good substitute for King crab, but its subtle flavor is
less sweet than King crab and the meat is not as red.

Stone Crab
ATLANTIC SPECIES

Jonah Crab

Blue Crab/Rajungan

Snow Crab
PACIFIC SPECIES

DUNGENESS CRAB

King Crab

King Crab Video

▪ The sea urchin is a spiny, hard-shelled animal that lives on the
rocky seafloor, from shallow waters to great depths. These
globular marine invertebrates move very slowly along the seabed.
▪ There are about 700 different species of sea urchins worldwide.
Many sea urchins have venomous spines.
▪ The biggest sea urchin is the red sea urchin (Strongylocentratus
franciscanus); it has a test about 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter.
▪ RED SEA URCHIN
▪ PURPLE SEA URCHIN
▪ GREEN SEA URCHIN
Sea Urchin
2. ECHINODERMS - “spiny skin"

Sea Urchin

Sea Urchin Video

▪ Elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor
worldwide.
▪ Prized for its gelatinous texture and supposed aphrodisiac qualities,
the sea cucumber is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
▪ Rather bland on their own, sea cucumbers absorb and accentuate the
flavors of the ingredients in which they are cooked.
Sea Cucumber - Haisom

How to Prepare Sea Cucumber Video

▪ Univalve (one shell)
Winkles, conch, abalone, whelk, land snail
▪ Bivalve (two shells)
Oysters, mussels, scallops, clams, cockle
▪ Cephalopods (no shell, “head-foot”)
Octopus, squid, cuttlefish
Mollusks

A class of mollusks typically having a 1-piece coiled shell and
flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes
UNIVALVE

Periwinkles
ConchAbalone
Snail
Univalve

BIVALVE
▪ Bivalve mollusks (e.g., clams, oysters, mussels, scallops) have an
external covering that is a two-part hinged shell that contains a
soft-bodied invertebrate.
▪ Like fish, bivalve mollusks breathe through their gills. As filter
feeders, bivalves gather food through their gills.
▪ Some bivalves have a pointed, retractable "foot" that protrudes
from the shell and digs into the surrounding sediment, effectively
enabling the creature to move or burrow.
▪ e.g., clams, oysters, mussels, scallops

Bivalve

▪ Oysters feed at their leisure, filtering up to eight gallons of salt water
per hour to collect food.
▪ Some kinds of oysters are commonly consumed by humans, cooked
or raw, and are regarded as a delicacy.
▪ An oyster’s entire reproductive cycle is based on water temperature,
not mood. When the water gets warm enough, oysters become
reproductive and spawny.
▪ There are three factors that contribute to the taste of oysters:
▪ SPECIES,
▪ METHOD OF CULTIVATION
▪ LOCATION OF CULTIVATION
OYSTERS

There are three factors that contribute to the
taste of oysters:
SPECIES
METHOD of
CULTIVATION
LOCATION of
CULTIVATION

SPECIES
Edible species of oysters can be divided up into two gener:
▪ The genus Crassostrea
Oysters in the genus crassostrea have cupped shells that house the
bulk of the meat. Fertilization occurs outside the shell.
▪ The genus ostrea.
Oysters in the genus ostrea have flatter shells and fertilization takes
place inside the female shell.

PACIFIC (Crassostrea gigas)
▪ Native to Japan. Gigas are the most common oyster in the world,
making up over 90% of all oysters produced.
▪ They are fast-growing, with an oblong shape and a deep cup.
▪ They are a highly adaptable species and have been brought into area
that either have no commercial oyster crop or where the native
oysters have, for some reason, failed.
ATLANTIC (Crassostrea virginica)
▪ Native to eastern United States, Gulf Coast and Canada.
Approximately 85 percent of all of the oysters grown in the United
States are Atlantic oysters.
▪ They have a round, somewhat flat, shell.
▪ A large amount of these oysters are processed in various ways and
never reach the table as half-shell oysters.

KUMAMOTO (Crassostrea sikamea)
▪ Native to the Far East; cultivated in the Pacific Northwest.
▪ “Kumos” are a very slow-growing oyster.
OLYMPIA (Ostrea lurida)
▪ The only oyster native to the West Coast United States.
▪ Olympia oysters are extremely small in size with a tiny, round shell
and a metallic taste.
EUROPEAN FLAT (Ostrea edulisi)
▪ Native to northwestern Europe.
▪ European flats have a flat, round shell with a coppery taste.
CHILOE (Ostrea chilensis)
▪ Native to Chile.

OYSTERS

Belon /European Flat Pacific

Species of Oyster Video

How to Eat Oyster Video

Cultivating Oyster
▪ Two methods are commonly used, release and bagging.
▪ In both cases, oysters are cultivated onshore to the size of spat, when
they can attach themselves to a substrate. They may be allowed to
mature further to form 'seed oysters’.
▪ In either case, they are then placed in the water to mature.
▪ The release technique involves distributing the spat throughout
existing oyster beds, allowing them to mature naturally to be
collected like wild oysters.
▪ Bagging has the cultivator putting spat in racks or bags and keeping
them above the bottom.

▪ Cages are exactly what they sound like.
▪ They house oyster grow-out mesh bags and keep them secure from
floating away or touching the bottom.
▪ Cages require a pretty stable bottom because they are quite heavy
and may sink into the mud if the bottom is too soft.
▪ Use when the oysters are still very young and not ready for
bottom-planting.
Cage culture

▪ For surface or floating culture, growers can choose from many
different types of gear, systems, and equipment, but essentially, all
surface culture gear will float on the surface of the water.
▪ Surface culture oysters typically never go dry and get a ton of wave
action that naturally tumbles them
▪ When fouling on the gear occurs, the gear is flipped so that seaweed
and other clinging ocean organisms are exposed to the air.
Surface or floating culture

Suspended culture
In a suspended culture, the oysters are typically suspended from a buoy
that floats on the surface of the water.
In other words, the oysters are hanging under water and they rise and fall
with the tides.

Storing Oysters
▪ Unlike most shellfish, oysters can have a fairly long shelf life
of up to four weeks. However, their taste becomes less
pleasant as they age.
▪ Oysters should be refrigerated out of water, not frozen, and
in 100% humidity.
▪ Oysters stored in water under refrigeration will open,
consume available oxygen, and die.

▪ Oysters must be eaten alive, or cooked alive. The shells of live
oysters are usually tightly closed or snap shut given a slight tap. If
the shell is open, the oyster is dead, and cannot be eaten safely.
▪ Oysters can be eaten on the half shell, raw, smoked, boiled, baked,
fried or broiled.
▪ Eating can be as simple as opening the shell and eating the
contents, including juice
▪ Care should be taken when consuming oysters. Purists insist on
eating them raw, with no dressing save perhaps lemon juice,
vinegar (most commonly shallot vinegar), or cocktail sauce.
Cooking Oysters
Oysters can contain harmful bacteria. Oysters are filter feeders, so will
naturally concentrate anything present in the surrounding water

Tasting Oysters
There are three factors to consider:
SALINITY (degree of saltiness)
▪ Mild
▪ Medium
▪ Salty
TEXTURE
▪ Crunchy
▪ Creamy
FINISH
▪ Mineral
▪ Buttery
▪ Fruity
▪ Vegetable

▪ Squid, Octopus and Cuttlefish belong to this family.
▪ Tough and require long cooking times or mechanical
tenderization.
▪ They have a thin internal bone called a pen or
cuttlebone.
CEPHALOPODS

CEPHALOPODS
Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish

How to Clean Cuttlefish

▪ Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild
sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea(Beluga,
Ossetra and Sevruga caviars).
▪ Depending on the country, caviar may also be used to
describe the roe of other fish such as salmon, steelhead,
trout, lumpfish, whitefish, pike and other species of
sturgeon
Caviar

▪ Very luxurious
▪ Named for the breed of sturgeon it is obtained from
▪ Prized for centuries, from the Caspian and Black Sea area
(most prized)
▪ Becoming very rare
▪ Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or
a spread.
▪ Most always served with “ice-cold vodka”
Caviar

Kinds of Caviar

Serving Caviar

Look at all that Caviar!

ANY QUESTIONS ?

Types and Categories of Shellfish

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