Aquatic invertebrates such as mussels, crabs, and oysters hold considerable untapped nutritional value that could be harnessed sustainably to improve global macro and micronutrient intake, according to findings by an international team including Lancaster University researchers Professor Christina Hicks and Dr James Robinson.

The research highlights the need to better protect, monitor, and assess these species to support current and future nutrition security.

Aquatic invertebrates, including molluscs and crustaceans, have long supported human diets, cultures, and livelihoods. Yet, despite their socio-ecological importance, they are often overlooked for their contribution to human nutrition, limiting their inclusion in strategies aimed at tackling malnutrition and creating more sustainable food systems.

“Invertebrates are hugely overlooked as healthy foods,” said Dr James Robinson. “Bivalves, crustaceans, and gastropods are fished and farmed all over the world, providing rich sources of essential dietary nutrients, such as vitamin B12, iodine, and zinc.”

With much of the world's population not consuming enough micronutrients such as vitamin B12, iron, and zinc, and aquatic food systems typically assessed by the amount of food they produce rather than the nutrients they provide, the researchers sought to better understand the nutritional value of aquatic invertebrates and their role in future food security and nutrition.

In their paper, ‘The nutritional value of invertebrate aquatic foods’, published in the journal Nature, the researchers examined 30 nutrients essential for human health. Lead author Jessica Zamborain-Mason, currently an assistant professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, who was based at Lancaster University as a Marie Curie Fellow and currently holds an active visiting researcher position, developed the invertebrate nutrient predictions, drawing on previous research into aquatic food nutrients.

The researchers found that current global production of aquatic invertebrates contains enough vitamin B12 and selenium to meet the equivalent annual requirements of more than five billion people. It also supplies enough iodine, zinc, copper, and omega-3 fatty acids to meet the annual requirements of more than one billion people.

To conduct the study, the team compiled nutritional data from hundreds of aquatic invertebrate species and developed predictive models to estimate the nutrient content of more than 50,000 potentially edible species worldwide. Most of these species have never previously been assessed in this way, providing new opportunities to incorporate nutrition into conservation, fisheries management, and policy decisions.

The analysis revealed that aquatic invertebrates provide disproportionately high levels of key micronutrients relative to the amount produced. In aquaculture, for example, invertebrates account for only around one-third of production by weight but provide more than half of the supply of nutrients such as iodine, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and iron.

The study also found that processing methods can influence nutritional value. For example, 100 grams of dried invertebrates often contains higher concentrations of minerals than raw tissue, creating opportunities to maximise nutritional benefits through product development while reducing waste.

Different species were also found to offer distinct nutritional benefits. Bivalves had the highest concentrations of iron, iodine, zinc, and vitamin B12, while sea urchins were particularly rich in selenium and magnesium. These insights could help inform public health programmes targeting specific nutrient deficiencies and undernourishment in different populations.

“This work provides new nutrient predictions for over 50,000 invertebrate species,” said Dr Robinson. “This provides a knowledge base for researchers working on aquatic foods, fisheries, and global food security.”

The researchers stress that the findings are not a call to harvest vast quantities of invertebrates from aquatic environments. Instead, they provide a stronger evidence base for governments, industry, and international organisations to consider nutrition alongside sustainability when managing fisheries and aquaculture, and to value aquatic foods not only for their economic contribution or production volume, but also for their potential to improve human health.

“Our research shows that aquatic invertebrates make a much greater nutritional contribution than many people realise,” said Jessica Zamborain-Mason. “By bringing nutrition alongside sustainability into decisions about fisheries, aquaculture, and broader aquatic food systems, we can better understand the full value of these foods and better protect and sustainably manage them.”

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10908-7