Hyotissa hyotis (Giant honeycomb oyster)
Thickly calcified oyster with clear jagged triangular teeth along the shell aperture.
Has not yet been assessed by the IUCN Red List, but they are widely distributed.
Circumtropical. They can be found in the Red Sea and South Africa, all the way to Indonesia and the Philippines, also the Caribbean. They are attached to rocks or coral on reef faces and walls, in a depth range of 0-50 meters. Usually they are found much shallower.
Members of the class Bivalvia are mostly gonochoric, as is Hyotissa hyotis. After spawning, embryos develop into free-swimming trocophore larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam.
Max length 30cm, usually around 18cm.
They feed on plankton, which they filter out of the passing current.
It differs from Lopha cristagalli in being more heavily calcified, more robust and larger in size. Hyotissa hyotis is also less often covered in sponges. It is attached to rocks rather than gorgonians.
