This article is about the food. For just fish, see Fish as food. For the seafood boil sauce variety, see seafood pizza.

A seafood platter composed of shrimp, oyster, snail and crab. Seafood includes any form of food taken from the sea. Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Various foods depicted in an Egyptian burial chamber, including fish, c.

The harvesting, processing, and consuming of seafoods are ancient practices with archaeological evidence dating back well into the Paleolithic. Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing. However, Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika, composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work to have survived to the modern day. Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics. At a certain time the goatfish was considered the epitome of luxury, above all because its scales exhibit a bright red colour when it dies out of water. In medieval times, seafood was less prestigious than other animal meats, and often seen as merely an alternative to meat on fast days.

Still, seafood was the mainstay of many coastal populations. Modern knowledge of the reproductive cycles of aquatic species has led to the development of hatcheries and improved techniques of fish farming and aquaculture. FAO for the purposes of collecting and compiling fishery statistics. Pelagic fish live and feed near the surface or in the water column of the sea, but not on the bottom of the sea. Demersal fish live and feed on or near the bottom of the sea. Some seafood groups are cod, flatfish, grouper and stingrays.

Diadromous fish are fishes which migrate between the sea and fresh water. Some seafood groups are salmon, shad, eels and lampreys. Freshwater fish live in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. 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. Aquatic gastropods, also known as sea snails, are univalves which means they have a protective shell that is in a single piece. Gastropod literally means stomach-foot, because they appear to crawl on their stomachs. 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.

Shrimp and prawns, are small, slender, stalk-eyed ten-legged crustaceans with long spiny rostrums. They are widespread, and can be found near the seafloor of most coasts and estuaries, as well as in rivers and lakes. They play important roles in the food chain. 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. Clawed lobsters and spiny lobsters are stalk-eyed ten-legged crustaceans with long abdomens. The spiny lobster lacks the large claws, but has a long, spiny antennae and a spiny carapace. Marine mammals form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. Whale meat is still harvested from legal, non-commercial hunts.

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. Sea turtles are caught worldwide, although in many countries it is illegal to hunt most species. 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.