Seafood – Wikipedia

Group Image Subgroup Description 2010 production
000 tonnes[14] fish Fish are aquatic vertebrates which lack limbs with digits, use gills to breathe, and have heads protected by hard bone or cartilage skulls. See: Fish (food). Total for fish : 106,639 marine
demersal Demersal fish live and feed on or near the bottom of the sea.[15] Some seafood groups are cod, flatfish, grouper and stingrays. Demersal fish feed mainly on crustaceans they find on the sea floor, and are more sedentary than the pelagic fish. Pelagic fish usually have the red flesh characteristic of the powerful swimming muscles they need, while demersal fish usually have white flesh. 23,806 freshwater Freshwater fish live in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. Some seafood groups are carp, tilapia, catfish, bass, and trout. Generally, freshwater fish lend themselves to fish farming more readily than the ocean fish, and the larger part of the tonnage reported here refers to farmed fish. 43,511 molluscs Molluscs (from the Latin molluscus, meaning soft ) are invertebrates with soft bodies that are not segmented like crustaceans. Bivalves and gastropods are protected by a calcareous shell which grows as the mollusc grows.

Total for molluscs:  

20,797 bivalves Bivalves, sometimes referred to as clams, have a protective shell in two hinged parts. A valve is the name used for the protective shell of a bivalve, so bivalve literally means two shells. Important seafood bivalves include oysters, scallops, mussels and cockles. Most of these are filter feeders which bury themselves in sediment on the seabed where they are safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some, such as scallops, can swim. Bivalves have long been a part of the diet of coastal communities. Oysters were cultured in ponds by the Romans and mariculture has more recently become an important source of bivalves for food. 12,585 cephalopods Cephalopods, except for nautilus, are not protected by an external shell. Cephalopod literally means head-foots, because they have limbs which appear to issue from their head. They have excellent vision and high intelligence. Cephalopods propel themselves with a water jet and lay down “smoke screens” with ink. Examples are octopus, squid and cuttlefish. They are eaten in many cultures. Depending on the species, the arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways. Octopus must be boiled properly to rid it of slime, smell, and residual ink. Squid are popular in Japan. In Mediterranean countries and in English-speaking countries squid are often referred to as calamari.[16] Cuttlefish is less eaten than squid, though it is popular in Italy and dried, shredded cuttlefish is a snack food in East Asia. See: Squid (food) Octopus (food). 3,653 other Molluscs not included above are chitons 4,033 crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin crusta, meaning crust ) are invertebrates with segmented bodies protected by hard crusts (shells or exoskeletons), usually made of chitin and structured somewhat like a knight’s armour. The shells do not grow, and must periodically be shed or moulted. Usually two legs or limbs issue from each segment. Most commercial crustaceans are decapods, that is they have ten legs, and have compound eyes set on stalks. Their shell turns pink or red when cooked.

Total for crustaceans:  

11,827 crabs Crabs are stalk-eyed ten-legged crustaceans, usually walk sideways, and have grasping claws as their front pair of limbs. They have small abdomens, short antennae, and a short carapace that is wide and flat. See: crab fisheries. 1,679[18] lobsters Clawed lobsters and spiny lobsters are stalk-eyed ten-legged crustaceans with long abdomens. The clawed lobster has large asymmetrical claws for its front pair of limbs, one for crushing and one for cutting (pictured). The spiny lobster lacks the large claws, but has a long, spiny antennae and a spiny carapace. Lobsters are larger than most shrimp or crabs. See: lobster fishing. 281[19] krill Krill are like baby shrimps, except they have external gills and more than ten legs (swimming plus feeding and grooming legs). They are found in oceans around the world where they filter feed in huge pelagic swarms.[20] Like shrimp, they are an important part of the marine food chain, converting phytoplankton into a form larger animals can consume. Each year, larger animals eat half the estimated biomass of krill (about 600 million tonnes).[20] Humans consume krill in Japan and Russia, but most of the krill harvest is used to make fish feed and for extracting oil. Krill oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, similarly to fish oil. See: Krill fishery. 215 other aquatic animals

Total for other aquatic animals:  

1409+ aquatic reptiles Sea turtles have long been valued as food in many parts of the world. Fifth century BC Chinese texts describe sea turtles as exotic delicacies.[32] Sea turtles are caught worldwide, although in many countries it is illegal to hunt most species.[33] Many coastal communities around the world depend on sea turtles as a source of protein, often gathering sea turtle eggs, and keeping captured sea turtles alive on their backs until needed for consumption.[34] Most species of sea turtle are now endangered, and some are critically endangered.[35] The FAO reports 1,418,975 crocodiles were harvested in 2010, but they do not record the tonnage. 296+ echinoderms Echinoderms are headless invertebrates, found on the seafloor in all oceans and at all depths. They are not found in fresh water. They usually have a five-pointed radial symmetry, and move, breathe and perceive with their retractable tube feet. They are covered with a calcareous and spiky test or skin. The name echinoderm comes from the Greek ekhinos meaning hedgehog, and dermatos meaning skin. Echinoderms used for seafood include sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and occasionally starfish. Wild sea cucumbers are caught by divers and in China they are farmed commercially in artificial ponds.[36] The gonads of both male and female sea urchins, usually called sea urchin roe or corals,[37] are delicacies in many parts of the world.[38][39] See: sea cucumber (food). 373 jellyfish Jellyfish are soft and gelatinous, with a body shaped like an umbrella or bell which pulsates for locomotion. They have long, trailing tentacles with stings for capturing prey. They are found free-swimming in the water column in all oceans, and are occasionally found in freshwater. Jellyfish must be dried within hours to prevent spoiling. In Japan they are regarded as a delicacy. Traditional processing methods are carried out by a jellyfish master. This involve a 20 to 40-day multi-phase procedure which starts with removing the gonads and mucous membranes. The umbrella and oral arms are then treated with a mixture of table salt and alum, and compressed. Processing reduces liquefaction, odor, the growth of spoilage organisms, and makes the jellyfish drier and more acidic, producing a crisp and crunchy texture. Only scyphozoan jellyfish belonging to the order Rhizostomeae are harvested for food; about 12 of the approximately 85 species. Most of the harvest takes place in southeast Asia.[40][41][42] 404 aquatic plants and microphytes Total for aquatic plants and microphytes : 19,893 microphytes Microphytes are microscopic organisms, and can be algal, bacterial or fungal. Microalgae are another type of aquatic plant, and includes species that can be consumed by humans and animals. Some species of aquatic bacteria can also be used as seafood, such as spirulina (pictured in tablet form), a type of cyanobacteria. See: culture of microalgae in hatcheries. Total production (thousand tonnes)   168,447