Question

The pearl oyster is
A. Sepia
B. Pinctada
C. Solen
D. Teredo

Answer 1

Pearl Oyster is an animal belonging to phylum Mollusca. The pearls are round shiny objects made after the secretion of pearl oyster. The main composition of pearls is calcium carbonate. The Nacreous pearls are made from layers of nacre.

Complete answer:
One family of nacreous, pearl oysters belongs to seawater.
● Saltwater pearls differ from freshwater pearls. They both come from different sources.
● Pearl oysters have a strong inner shell layer formed by nacre. They are also known as the mother of pearls.
● The best known and commercially significant pearls known as Nacreous pearls are by two groups of mollusks one is ‘Bivalves’ and the second is ‘clams’.
● Pinctada is a genus of saltwater oysters that is placed under the family pteriidae and the pearl oyster belongs to the Pinctada genus.
● The various species of Pinctada produce different colors and sizes of pearls. These properties depend on the size and the natural color of the nacre inside the shell of species.
● Solen is also a genus of the family solenidae while the sepia is the genus of cuttlefish in the family known as Sepiidae.
● Teredo is a genus of saltwater clams which bore in wood and live in the tunnel they make.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: All shelled mollusks are able to produce pearl. Natural pearls (wild), which are formed without any kind of human intervention are very rare. Pearl is a hard object which is produced in soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or in some other animals such as fossil conulariids.