Editing Oyster (section)

== Feeding ==
Oysters are [[filter feeder]]s, drawing water in over their [[gill]]s through the beating of [[cilia]]. Suspended [[plankton]] and non-food particles are trapped in the [[mucus]] of a gill, and from there are transported to the mouth, where they are eaten, digested, and expelled as [[feces]] or [[pseudofeces]] that fall to the bottom and remain out of the water column. Oysters feed most actively at temperatures ranging from the high 60s to the high 70s ({{cvt|68|-|78|F|C|disp=out}}).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wheeler |first=Timothy B. |date=20 May 2020 |title=Pumped-up performance: Oysters' filtering feat overstated |url=https://www.bayjournal.com/news/fisheries/pumped-up-performance-oysters-filtering-feat-overstated/article_bbe67d38-8f09-11ea-a5ab-5fd7465dee21.html |access-date=14 April 2022 |website=Bay Journal |language=en}}</ref> Under ideal laboratory conditions, an oyster can filter up to {{Convert|50|USgal|l||order=flip|abbr=on}} of water per day. Under average conditions, mature oysters filter {{Convert|3|-|12|U.S.gal|l|order=flip|abbr=on}}. [[Chesapeake Bay]]'s once-flourishing oyster population historically filtered excess nutrients from the estuary's entire water volume every three to four days. As of 2008 it was estimated that a complete cycle would take nearly a year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oyster Reefs: Ecological importance |url=http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/pdf/value_of_oysters.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908044948/http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/pdf/value_of_oysters.pdf |archive-date=8 September 2014 |access-date=16 January 2008 |publisher=US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration}}</ref>