Rock oysters are true oysters of the genus Saccostrea, belonging to the subfamily Saccostreinae of the family Ostreidae.^[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

Rock oyster
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Ostreida
Superfamily:	Ostreoidea
Family:	Ostreidae
Genus:	Saccostrea Dollfus & Dautzenberg, 1920
Type species
† Ostrea saccellus Dujardin, 1837
Synonyms[1]
Ostrea (Saccostrea) Dollfus & Dautzenberg, 1920 Parastriostrea Harry, 1985 Saxostrea Iredale, 1936

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The best-known species is the Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata).

The World Register of Marine Species lists these species:^[1]

• Saccostrea circumsuta (Gould, 1850)
• Saccostrea cucullata (Born, 1778) – hooded oyster
• Saccostrea echinata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1835) – tropical black-lip rock oyster
• Saccostrea glomerata (Gould, 1850) - Sydney rock oyster
• Saccostrea kegaki Torigoe & Inaba, 1981
• Saccostrea malabonensis (Faustino, 1932) – Philippine hooded oyster (talabang kukong kabayo)
• Saccostrea mordoides Z.-M. Cui, L.-S. Hu, C. Li, Z. Zhang, X.-M. Guo & H.-Y. Wang, 2021
• Saccostrea palmula (Carpenter, 1857)
• † Saccostrea saccellus (Dujardin, 1837)
• Saccostrea scyphophilla (Peron & Lesueur, 1807)
• Saccostrea spathulata (Lamarck, 1819)
• Saccostrea subtrigona (G.B. Sowerby II, 1871)
• † Saccostrea virleti (Deshayes, 1835)

Synonyms

• Saccostrea commercialis (Iredale & Roughley, 1933): synonym of Saccostrea glomerata (Gould, 1850)
• Saccostrea cucullata [sic]: synonym of Saccostrea cuccullata (Born, 1778) (misspelling)
• Saccostrea forskahlii (Gmelin, 1791): synonym of Saccostrea cuccullata (Born, 1778)
• Saccostrea margaritacea (Lamarck, 1819): synonym of Striostrea margaritacea (Lamarck, 1819)
• Saccostrea mordax (Gould, 1850): synonym of Saccostrea scyphophilla (Peron & Lesueur, 1807)
• Saccostrea tubulifera (Dall, 1914): synonym of Saccostrea palmula (Carpenter, 1857)