File:FMIB 48216 Anatomy of the Oyster.jpeg

--From a model in the American Museum of Natural History. The right valve and mantle have been removed to thow the internal organs. The oyster may roughly be likened to a book, the valves of the shell representing the cover, the fleshy mantle closely lining the shell the first and last leaves, and the gills, running lengthwise beneath the large adductor muscle, the inner pages. Between the muscle and the hinge lies the heart, and above the gills the visceral mass, consisting of the cream-colored reproductive organs, whish are here pictured as round white masses, and the dark-colored digestive organs. Between the anterior end of the gills and the hinge are the palps, four fleshy flaps, similar in appearance to the gills. The microscopic plants which form the food of the oyster, are filtered out by the hairlike cilia of the gills, transferred to the palps, and passed into the mouth. A short esophagus leads into the stomach, which is surrounded by a dark-green gl

• Subject: Oysters--Anatomy
• Tag: Shellfish