A Breton oyster farmer made an astonishing discovery in Finistère: a 2.2-kilogram oyster. It weighs as much as the world’s largest oyster but is also bigger.
An oyster of extraordinary weight. This is the discovery made last week by Pierre-Alexandre Morvan, the son of a Breton oyster farmer from Carantec in Finistère. The shell, found in the family’s oyster farming mud, weighs no less than 2.2 kg according to Ouest-France. That is 25 to 30 times the average weight of a quality number 3 oyster (50 to 75 g), which is among the most consumed oysters.
The other dimensions are also impressive: 22 cm long, 14 cm wide, and 11 cm thick. Such an oyster has never before been found in Brittany, according to Le Télégramme. The shell is also very old: estimated to be about 20 years. “I was really very surprised,” says Alain Morvan, who was interviewed by our colleagues.
A future line of resistant oysters?
Is this a world record? Strictly speaking, no: in 2016, a 2.2 kg oyster was already found in Dorset, England. It holds the title of the world’s largest oyster in the Guinness Book. “We would have preferred 2.3 kg to do better, but that’s how it is,” Alain Morvan responded humorously.
This discovery is the pride of father and son Morvan. They hope scientists will be able to study this XXL oyster to create a very resistant oyster line. “This shell has necessarily developed immunity to various viruses that have infected oyster farms in recent years. It is interesting to study their case,” concludes Pierre-Alexandre.