Black-lipped pearl oyster

Tlie black-lipped pearl oyster, Pimtada margarm a, is a little smaller, and measures fiom 15 to 25 centimetres across. It, too, has silvery nacre inside the shell, becoming silvery gr at the edges, which are surrounded on the lip of the shell by a black border that resembles enamel. The oyster lives in the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific, eq>ecially around French Polynesia. It is used to produce the fiunous Tahitian black pearis, which are nucleated cultured pearls. The nacre secreted by these pearl oysters is naturally coloured and varies om li t gr to black, with iridescent hints of green, purple, pink and blue. The pearls rai in size from 10 to 18 millimetres in diameter. 

ALAGAESWAMI K, DHARMARAJ S, CHELLAM A and VELAYUDHAN T S (1989) Larval and juvenile rearing of black-lip pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera (Linnaeus). Aquaculture, 76,43-56. 

The black-winged pearl oyster, Puna penguin has silvery nacre, a wide black lip and a narrow wir shape where the shell hinges. It... 

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