What Type Of Oysters Make Pearls

Even if you ve just started researching about pearls and pearl jewelry you likely know that they can come in a large variety of colors.

What type of oysters make pearls. Oysters make pearls as a defensive response to foreign objects. Some types of oysters are commonly consumed cooked or raw and in some locales are regarded as a delicacy. A natural pearl begins its life inside an oyster s shell when an intruder such as a grain of sand or bit of floating food slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster a type of mollusk. Raw bars present patrons with lists of dozens of oysters to choose from.

Pearls are the result of a biological process the oyster s way of protecting itself from foreign substances. Even though pearls are formed in a variety of mollusks their formation in oysters is relatively common and therefore they are readily associated with oysters. There are animals known as pearl oysters which includes species in the genus pinctada the species pinctada maxima called the gold lipped pearl oyster or silver lipped pearl oyster lives in the indian ocean and the pacific from japan to australia and produce pearls known as. Today a hybrid mollusk is used in both japan and china in the.

Most pearls are produced by oysters in both freshwater and saltwater environments. Clams and mussels can also produce pearls but that is a much rarer occurrence. In some species the valves are highly calcified and many are somewhat irregular in shape. While white pearls are the most traditional and popular type they can also be black grey pink cream peach green blue purple and more.

A person used to be able to simply order a dozen oysters. Subscribe for new videos every day. Many but not all oysters are in the superfamily ostreoidea. A pearl is a small hard object that is roundish in shape and forms within the shell of mollusks like oysters and clams.

Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. Oysters are not the only type of mollusk that can produce pearls. Which mollusks make pearls. The process begins when some foreign body such as sand a parasite or some other organic material manages to make its way inside the oyster s shell and comes in contact with the mantle a layer that protects the oyster s internal organs sometimes even damaging it.

Any mollusk can form a pearl although they are more common in some animals than in others.