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Opening and extracting pearls from farmed pearl oysters Cultivated pearl oyster (from Japan Shima, Mie) All species within the genus produce pearls. Attempts have been made to harvest pearls commercially from many Pinctada species. However, the only species that are currently of significant commercial interest are:
Pinctada maxima is a species of pearl oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. 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.
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.
This species is commonly farmed and harvested for pearls, and there is general consensus that the quality of pearls from Pinctada margaritifera is the highest quality out of all the pearl oysters. Pearls form when a parasite or other irritant enters into the oyster and nacre is released by the oyster to coat the object, eventually creating a ...
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]
By the 1840s, the export of the shells was as valuable as the pearls extracted from them; the nacreous shells were used to make mother-of-pearl buttons for clothing. In 1874, compressed air diving equipment made harvesting the oysters easier. By the early 1900s, some 200,000 to 500,000 oysters were being harvested annually. [10]
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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.
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