Question

The pearl bed which produces best quality pearls is known as:
A.Lingha Pearl
B.Muktaphal
C.Kusum
D.None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: The best quality of pearl is obtained from marine oysters. These oysters are known to have a strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, which is called "mother of pearl".

Complete answer:
Pearl is a white, highly shining globular concoction found within the shell of an Oyster. Pearl oysters are also called sedentary animals. The High quality pearls are generally obtained from pearl oysters of Genus Pinctada that are cultured in the salinity range of oceans. The various species of Pinctada produce different sizes and colors of pearls, varying on the size of the species and the natural color of the nacre inside the shell.
When a foreign particle enters into the space between the mantle and shell of the oyster, it adheres to the mantle. The mantle epithelium encloses the foreign particle like a sac and starts to secrete concentric layers of nacre around it as a defensive mechanism. When the Nacre is secreted the pearl keeps on enlarging its size. Once the pearl enlarges the oyster dies. The shell is then carefully opened and the pearls are manually separated and graded.
The best pearl oyster comes out from genus Pinctada, family pteriidae, and class bivalvia and phylum mollusca. The few important species producing good quality of pearl are Pinctada vulgaris (schumachar), Pinctada margaritifera (Linn), Pinctada chemnitz (Philippi), Pinctada anamioides (Reeve) and Pinctada atropurpurea (Dunker). All the species are marine Lingha Pearl is the important marine species which produces the pearl of fine quality. They take around seven years for a pearl formation.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A)

Note: The pearl is formed from the nacre. The nacre is formed of two substances calcium carbonate and conchiolin. The calcium carbonate is in the form of aragonite or calcite and conchiolin is in the form of an albuminoid. The average lifespan of a pearl oyster is around 3 years to 14 years. Pearl obtained from freshwater bivalves is not as valuable as those obtained from the marine oysters.