Pinctada margaritifera
species of mollusc
Pinctada margaritifera, commonly known as the black-lip pearl oyster, is a species of pearl oyster, a saltwater mollusk, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae. This species is common in the Indo-Pacific within tropical coral reefs.
The ability of P. margaritifera to produce pearls means that the species is a valuable resource to humans. The oysters are harvested wild from coral reefs and are also commonly grown in aquaculture, both primarily taking place in the Indo-Pacific region.
Description
The common name of this species refers to the black coloring along the margins of the interior of the shell. Externally the shell is dark grayish brown or green, though white spots are common across the shell. Adults usually reach between 20 and 25 centimetres (7.9 and 9.8 in) in height. A distinctive feature of the species is that the hinge has no teeth.
(The genera Pinctada and Pteria are often confused. In Pinctada, the hinge is long and straight, the long end of the shell forms a right angle to the hinge, and the left valve is slightly deeper than the right.
The public source identifies “Pinctada margaritifera” as species of mollusc. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pinctada, margaritifera and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q820786. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pinctada margaritifera” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.