Pearl oyster
Encyclopedia : P : PE : PEA : Pearl oyster
The Pearl Oysters are the genus Pinctada of bivalve molluscs. They are classified in the family Pteriidae. They are not closely related to the edible oysters of family Ostreidae.
All members of the genus share the physiological properties that lead to the production of large pearls of commercial value, and attempts have been made to harvest pearls commercially from many of the species. However the only species that are currently of significant commercial interest are:
- Gulf Pearl Oyster, Pinctada radiata; Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea
- Black-lip Oyster, Pinctada margaritifera; Persian Gulf and southwestern part of Indian Ocean; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; Myanmar; Baja California; Gulf of Mexico
- White-lip Oyster or Gold-lip oyster, P. maxima; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; Myanmar; Philippines
- Japanese Pearl Oyster or Akoya Pearl Oyster, P. fucata (also called P. imbricata), Red Sea; Sri Lanka; Persian Gulf; Indian Ocean; Western Pacific Ocean; Australia; China;
- Shark Bay Pearl Oyster P. albina; Australia
Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the related winged oyster genus Pteria, and also from the freshwater mussel species Hyriopsis schlegeli. Though also a bivalve, this last species is unrelated to the oysters.
External links
and
- [More common commercial pearl-oysters]
- [OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database entry for Pinctada]
- [List of commercial pearl types]
- [List of types of pearls with the oyster that produces them]
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