''Pinctada'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of saltwater oysters,

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

bivalve mollusks in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pteriidae. These

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium ca ...

oysters have a strong inner shell layer composed of

nacre Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is f ...

, also known as "mother of pearl". Pearl oysters are not closely related to either the edible oysters of family Ostreidae or the freshwater pearl

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s of the families Unionidae and

Margaritiferidae Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)licence. It is the m ...

. '' Pinctada margaritifera'' and '' P. maxima'' are used for culturing South Sea and Tahitian pearls. They are cultured widely primarily in the central and eastern

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. A pearl oyster can be seen on the reverse side of the 1,000-peso note of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Species of commercial value

All species within the genus produce

s. Attempts have been made to harvest pearls commercially from many ''Pinctada''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. However, the only species that are currently of significant commercial interest are: * Gulf pearl oyster, ''Pinctada radiata''; Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and throughout the

as far as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the no ...

and Australia. * Black-lip oyster, ''Pinctada margaritifera''; Persian Gulf and southwestern part of

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

;

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

; Tahiti;

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

;

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

;

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

Gold-lip oyster ''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 Silver-lipped oyster and the Gold-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest ...

, ''Pinctada maxima''; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; *

White-lip oyster ''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 Silver-lipped oyster and the Gold-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest ...

, ''Pinctada maxima''; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; Myanmar; * ''

Pinctada mazatlanica ''Pinctada mazatlanica'' is a species of tropical marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. It is known by the English common names pearl oyster, Mazatlan pearl oyster, and Panama pearl oyster. Spanish common names inc ...

''; Mexico; Panama; * Akoya pearl oyster, '' Pinctada fucata'' (also called ''P. imbricata''), Red Sea;

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

; Persian Gulf;

; Western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

; Australia; China;

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

; * Shark Bay pearl oyster '' Pinctada albina''; Australia The various species of ''Pinctada'' produce different maximum sizes and colors of pearls, depending on the size of the species and the natural color of the

inside the shell. Black South Sea pearls, or Tahitian pearls come from the black-lip oyster; white and golden South Sea pearls from the white-lip and golden-lip oysters; and Akoya cultured pearls from ''Pinctada fucata martensii'', the Akoya pearl oyster. Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the closely related winged oyster genus '' Pteria''. Pearls are also produced from freshwater

species unrelated to pearl oysters. These freshwater species include ''

Hyriopsis cumingii ''Hyriopsis'' is a genus of bivalves belonging to the family Unionidae. The species of this genus are found in Southeastern Asia. Species: *'' Hyriopsis altealata'' *'' Hyriopsis bialata'' *'' Hyriopsis bogatchevi'' *'' Hyriopsis cumingii'' ...

'', '' Hyriopsis schlegelii'', and a hybrid of the two species. At danger from the large demand for pearls, the typical lifespan of a pearl oyster is usually around 3 years to 14 years. ''Pinctada maxima'' are seeded at about 2 years of age and take 2 years to fully develop a pearl. They can be reseeded up to 3 or 4 times. Akoya pearls are harvested after about 9 to 16 months. Research carried out by biologist Aldemaro Romero Jr. allowed him to discover that the first animal population depleted by Europeans in the American continent was a pearl oyster species (''Pinctada imbricata'') off the coast of Venezuela. He analyzed historical records and used information about the biology of these and other species to explain its rapid disappearance.

Species list

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following species in the genus: * '' Pinctada albina'' (Lamarck, 1819) – Shark Bay pearl oyster * ''

Pinctada capensis ''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 eith ...

'' (Sowerby III, 1890) * ''

Pinctada chemnitzii ''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 eith ...

'' (Philippi, 1849) * '' Pinctada cumingii'' (Reeve, 1857) * '' Pinctada fucata'' (Gould, 1850) – Akoya pearl oyster – now accepted as ''Pinctada imbricata fucata'' * ''

Pinctada galtsoffi ''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 eith ...

'' Bartsch, 1931 * '' Pinctada imbricata'' Röding, 1798 – Gulf pearl oyster * ''

Pinctada inflata ''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 eith ...

'' (Schumacher, 1817) * ''

Pinctada longisquamosa ''Pinctada longisquamosa'', sometimes called scaly pearl osters, are a small species of pearl oyster found in the western Atlantic. They are distinguished by unique prismatic shell structures which protrude from the outer shell. Taxonomy ''Pinct ...

'' (Dunker, 1852) * ''

Pinctada maculata ''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 e ...

'' (Gould, 1850) * '' Pinctada margaritifera'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Black-lip oyster * '' Pinctada maxima'' (Jameson, 1901) – White-lip oyster or gold-lip oyster * ''

'' (Hanley, 1856) * ''

Pinctada nigra ''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 eith ...

'' (Gould, 1850) * ''

Pinctada petersii ''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 e ...

'' (Dunker, 1852) * ''

Pinctada radiata ''Pinctada radiata'', commonly known as the Atlantic pearl-oyster or the Gulf pearl oyster is a species of pearl oyster distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific and in the Mediterranean. Its range extends as far north as Japan and as far south as ...

'' (Leach, 1814) – Atlantic pearl-oyster – now accepted as ''Pinctada imbricata radiata'' * ''

Pinctada reeveana ''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 eith ...

'' (Dunker, 1872) * ''

Pinctada sugillata ''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 eith ...

'' (Reeve, 1857) * ''

Pinctada vidua ''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 e ...

'' (Gould, 1850)

References

External links

*
OBIS Indo-Pacific molluscan database entry for ''Pinctada''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1140748 Pteriidae Bivalve genera Commercial molluscs Taxa named by Peter Friedrich Röding