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Black-lip pearl shell
Pinctada margaritifera
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 207899, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Black-lip pearl shell
- Scientific
- Pinctada margaritifera
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Maximum size
- Up to about 9.8 cm (shell length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 40 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The black-lip pearl shell is a large, flat oyster, up to about 25 cm, whose pearly interior has a dark, greenish-black rim. It attaches to reef walls, rocks and dead coral in lagoons and on slopes, often covered in growth. It is the source of black pearls.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=4); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=6, 1 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Pinctada-margaritifera.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207899
- inaturalist.org /taxa/368663
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Ostra_perla_de_labios_negros_(Pinctada_margaritifera),_isla
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.