The Pearl Oysters are the genus Pinctada of bivalve molluscs. They are classified in the family Pteriidae. They are not closely related to the edible oysters of family Ostreidae. In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. ... Orders Subclass Protobranchia Solemyoida Nuculoida Subclass Pteriomorphia - oysters Arcoida Mytiloida Pterioida Subclass Paleoheterodonta - mussels Trigoinoida Unionoida Subclass Heterodonta - clams, zebra mussels Veneroida Myoida Subclass Anomalosdesmata Pholadomyoida Animals of the Class Bivalvia are known as bivalves because they typically have two-part shells, with both parts being more or less symmetrical. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora - Chitons Monoplacophora Bivalvia - Bivalves Scaphopoda - Tusk shells Gastropoda - Snails and Slugs Cephalopoda - Squids, Octopuses, etc. ... Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of molluscs which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water. ... Genera Crassostrea Hyotissa Lopha Ostrea Saccostrea et al The members of the family Ostreidae are the true oysters, and include all the species that are commonly eaten under the title oyster. They do not include the Pearl Oysters; these species are only distantly related to the true oysters, since although...

All members of the genus share the physiological properties that lead to the production of large pearls of commercial value, and attempts have been made to harvest pearls commercially from many of the species. However the only species that are currently of significant commercial interest are: Pearls from Toba Pearl Island, Japan A pearl is a hard, rounded object produced by certain mollusks, primarily oysters. ... In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ... In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ...

• Gulf Pearl Oyster, Pinctada radiata; Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea
• Black-lip Oyster, Pinctada margaritifera; Persian Gulf and southwestern part of Indian Ocean; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; Myanmar; Baja California; Gulf of Mexico
• White-lip Oyster or Gold-lip oyster, P. maxima; Australia; Fiji; Tahiti; Myanmar; Philippines
• Japanese Pearl Oyster or Akoya Pearl Oyster, P. fucata (also called P. imbricata), Red Sea; Sri Lanka; Persian Gulf; Indian Ocean; Western Pacific Ocean; Australia; China;
• Shark Bay Pearl Oyster P. albina; Australia

The different species produce different types of pearls. 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 the Japanese pearl oyster. Map of the Persian Gulf. ... Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Alanic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ...

Pearls are also obtained in commercial quantities from some species of the related genus Pteria, and also from the freshwater mussel species Hyriopsis schlegeli. Though also a bivalve, this last species is unrelated to the oysters. Pteria was the capital of the White Syrians in northern Cappadocia. ...

External links

• Common commercial pearl-oysters

and

• More common commercial pearl-oysters
• OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database entry for Pinctada
• List of commercial pearl types