The Atlantic Pearl Oyster
Although other mollusks are capable of producing pearls, the emblematic bivalve making true, valuable, old-fashioned pearls is the Silver-lip Pearl Oyster, Pinctada maxima (Jameson, 1901), which may reach about 12 inches in size. That species is not native to the Atlantic Ocean, and its closest relative in our area is the much smaller Atlantic Pearl Oyster, Pinctada imbricata (Röding, 1798), at about 3 inches. The pictures show the shell and a live individual of the Atlantic