mussels, and the saltwater pearl oyster are the shellfish which are cultured to obtain pearl.
name the shellfish which is cultured to obtain pearl?
mussels, and the saltwater pearl oyster
since the development of pearl culture technology, the black pearl oysters "pinctada margaritifera" found in tahiti and many other pacific islands including the cook islands and fiji are being extensively used for producing cultured pearls. the rarity of the black cultured pearl is now a "comparative" issue. the black cultured pearl is rare when compared to chinese freshwater cultured pearls, and japanese and chinese akoya cultured pearls, and is more valuable than these pearls. however, it is more abundant than the south sea pearl, which is more valuable than the black cultured pearl. this is simply because the black pearl oyster "pinctada margaritifera" is far more abundant than the elusive, rare, and larger south sea pearl oyster "pinctada maxima", which cannot be found in lagoons, but which must be dived for in a rare number of deep ocean habitats or grown in hatcheries.
pearl
with the decline in the numbers of native freshwater mussels in north america people began to culture freshwater pearls; this became a big industry in japan. natural freshwater pearls are rarely perfectly round, more often than not freshwater pearls are naturally shaped as baroque, slug, or wing shaped. round pearls are sought after as more desirable for use in jewelry. the shape of the "seed" or nucleus of the freshwater pearl, and the position of the "seed" in the mussel determines the ultimate shape the cultured pearl will take, hence with careful advanced planning cultured pearls can be made round. cultured pearls have a similar color to natural pearls as the nacre is laid down by the mantle of the freshwater mussel, and thus the color of the pearl may be species specific. exportation of freshwater mussels for the use in the japanese cultured pearl industry has supported the north american freshwater mussel fisheries since the late 1950s. the mother of pearl (or nacre) from exported freshwater mussels are used to make a bead nucleus which is placed in a living animal to form a pearl. in the 1990s, the united states exported $50 million worth of freshwater mussel shells to japan. exports of freshwater mussel shells declined so that by 2002 the annual revenue of freshwater mussel exportation to japan had dropped to $35 million. by 1993 in the united states 31 different states were still reporting production of freshwater pearls and export of freshwater mussel shells, including: alabama, arkansas, georgia, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, louisiana, minnesota, missouri, nebraska, north dakota, oklahoma, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, and wisconsin. to this date the bulk of the freshwater mussel shell and freshwater pearl production comes from alabama, arkansas, louisiana, and tennessee.
unionida