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Pinctada is a genus of saltwater oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Pteriidae. These pearl oysters have a strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl". Pearl oysters are not closely related to either the edible oysters of family Ostreidae or the freshwater pearl mussels of the families Unionidae and ...
Pinctada margaritifera, commonly known as the black-lip pearl oyster, is a species of pearl oyster, a saltwater mollusk, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae. This species is common in the Indo-Pacific within tropical coral reefs. The ability of P. margaritifera to produce pearls means that the species is a valuable resource to humans.
The oysters are kept in wire nets suspended from rafts while both oysters and pearls grow. Readiness for harvest is often determined by x-ray. Not only is the pearl gathered, but the nacre lining the inside of the valves of the shell is used in jewelry and in the manufacture of ornamental objects. [4]
The largest pearl-bearing oyster is the marine Pinctada maxima, which is roughly the size of a dinner plate. Not all individual oysters produce pearls. In nature, pearl oysters produce pearls by covering a minute invasive object with nacre. Over the years, the irritating object is covered with enough layers of nacre to become a pearl.
There are two different color varieties: the Gold-lipped oyster and the Silver-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest pearl oysters in the world. They have a very strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl" and are important to the cultured pearl industry as they are cultivated to produce South Sea pearls.
A black pearl and a shell of the black-lipped pearl oyster. The iridescent colors originate from nacre layers. All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones.
Pteria sterna, or commonly known as the rainbow-lipped pearl oyster or the Pacific wing-oyster, is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. This oyster can be found in shallow water along the tropical and subtropical Pacific coast of America, its range including Baja California , Mexico and northern Peru .
The shell has a rounded outline, with a nearly equal height and width. Oyster shells are usually oval or pear-shaped, but will vary widely in form depending on what they attach to. Oysters have a strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl". An oyster can filter 1.3 gallons of water per hour.