The source of pearls are widely distributed, each one of the six continents yielding its quota. The yield in the likewise ancient fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar is uncertain, but sometimes remarkable large. The Red Sea resources are now of slight importance compared with their extent in the time of the Ptolemies. Other Asiatic fisheries are in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, about Mergui Archipelago, on the coast of China, Japan, Korea, and Siam, and also in the rivers of China, Manchuria, and Siberia. Aside from those produced in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the pearl fisheries of Africa are of small extent. Some reefs exist on the lower coast of the German East African territory and also in Portuguese East Africa, but they have not been thoroughly exploited. In most of the inshore waters of Australasia pearls may be secured; the fisheries are most extensive on the northern coast of Australia, in the Sulu Archipelago, and about the Dutch East Indies. Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier, Fiji and Penrhyn are prominent in the South Pacific Ocean. In the seas of Europe (Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, Austria, France) few pearls have been found, but the rivers have yielded many. South America contributes the important reefs on the coast of Venezuela--the land of unrest and revolutions, whose fisheries were first exploited by Columbus. Other South American countries in which pearls are collected are Panama, Ecuador, Peru,etc. In North America, pearls are found in the pearl oyster of the Gulf of California, the abalone of the Pacific coast, the queen conch of the Gulf of Mexico, pearls in Canada and the Unios of most of the North American rivers, especially those of the Mississippi River Valley. Where are pearls found? Country/--Area/----Body of Water Mollusk Australia New South Wales ----Pinctada maxima (White-lipped oyster, gold-lipped oyster)

Northern Territory ---- Pinctada maxima

Queensland--Cairns ----Pinctada maxima

Queensland--Cooktown ----Pinctada maxima

Queesland--Thursday Island ----Pinctada maxima

Torres Strait ----Pinctada maxima

Western Australia--Broome ----Pinctada maxima

Western Australia--Burrup Peninsula ----Pinctada maxima

Western Australia--Cygnet Bay, Deep Water Point, Talbot Bay, Willie Creek ----Pinctada maxima

Western Australia--Exmouth Gulf, King Sound, Kuri Bay, Montebello Island, Pender Bay, Roebuck Bay ----Pinctada maxima

Western Australia--Shark Bay ----Pinctada albino (Arafur pearl oyster) ---- Canada

British Columbia--Faumfield Marine Station, Burnaby ----Abalone: Haliotis kamtschatkana (Pinto abalone) ----

China--Freshwater

Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei ----Cristaria plicata (River shell, wrinkle shell), Hyriopsis cumingi (Triangle shell)

Guangdong--Chenghai, Nan Ao, Shantou ----Hyriopsis cumingi

Guangxi ----Hyriopsis cumingi, Hyriopsis schlegi

Jiangsu--Changzhou ----Hyriopsis sumingi

Jiangsu--Lake Taihu and nearby ponds ----Hyriopsis cumingi

Zhejiang--Shaoxing, Zhuji ----Hyriopsis cumingi, Hyriopsis schlegi (Biwa perly mussel) China--Saltwater

Guangdong--Chenghai ----Pinctada fucata (Chinese Akoya oyster)

Guangdong--Hainan Island ----Pinctada fucata

Guangxi--Beihai ----Pinctada fucata

Guangxi--Hepu ----Pinctada fucata ---- Cook Islands

Cook Islands ----Pinctada maculata (Maculated pearl oyster)

Cook Islands ----Pinctada margaritfera, var. cumingi (Black-lipped oyster

Cook Islands ----Pinctada maxima ----

French Polynesia

Anuanuraro ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Gambier Islands--Mangareva ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Ahe ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Aratika ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Apataki, Arutua, Faaite, Fakarawa, Kauehi, Makemo, Nego Nego, Rangiroa ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Hikueru, Takapoto, Takaroa, Takume ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Kaukura, South Marutea----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi

Tuamotu Archipelago--Manihia ----Pinctada margaritifera, var. cumingi ----

Indonesia

Flores ----Pinctada maxima

Irian Jaya--Sorong, Wageo ----Pinctada maxima

Maluku--Aru, Ceram ----Pinctada maxima

Maluku--Bacan, Dobo, Halmahera, Tanimbar, Tual----Pinctada maxima

Nusa Tenggara Barat--Gili Air ----Pinctada maxima

Sulawasi--Banggai, Togian ----Pinctada maxima

Sumatra--Lampung ----Pinctada maxima

Sumbawa ----Pinctada maxima

Timor--Kupang ----Pinctada maxima ---- Japan--Freshwater

Lake Biwa ----Hyriopsis schlegeli

Lake Kasumiga ----Hyriopsis cumingi--Hyriopsis schlegeli hybrid

Japan--Saltwater

Japan ----Abalone: Haliotis

Ehime--Uwajima ----Pinctada fucata martensii

Kagoshima; Kumamoto ----Pinctada fucata martensii

Mie--Ago, Kashikojima, Toba ----Pinctada fucata martensii

Mie--Ise ----Pinctada fucata martensii

Nagasaki--Goto Shisushima ----Pinctada fucata martensii

Nansei Shoto--Amamioshima, Ishigakishima, Okinawa----Pinctada margaritifera

Nansei Shoto--Amamioshima ----Pinctada maxima ---- Mexico

Baja California ----Pteria sterna (Western winged pearl oyster)

Baja California--La Paz ----Pinctada mazatlanica (Panamanian pearl oyster)

Guyamas ----Pinctada mazatlanica ----

Myanmar

Myanmar ----Pinctada maxima ---- New Zealand

Stewart Island ----Abalone: Haliotis Iris (Paua, iris, or rainbow abalone) ---- North America

Pacific Coast ----Abalone: Haliotis rufescens (Red abalone), H. fulgens (Green abalone) ----

Philippines

Mindanao--Davao, Zamboanga ----Pinctada maxima

Palawan: Surigao Strait ----Pinctada maxima

Visayan Islands--Bohl, Cebu, Panay ----Pinctada maxima ---- South Africa

South Africa ----Abalone: Haliotis ----

United States--Freshwater

Tennessee--Kentucky Lake, Tennessee River----Megalonaias Nervosa

Texas--San Angelo ----Megalonaias Nervosa

United States--Saltwater

Hawaii ----Pinctada margaritifera ---- Vietnam--Freshwater

Ho Tay ----Cristaria plicata

Vietnam--Saltwater

Vietnam ----Pinctada fucata ----

Where are Calcareous Concretions Found?

Bahamas ----Strombus gigas

Bermuda ----Stromus gigas

China--South China Sea ----Melo Melo (Melo "pearl" or Indian volute)

Cuba ----Strombus gigas

India ----Melo Melo

Indonesia ----Melo Melo

Malaysia ----Melo Melo

Myanmar ----Melo Melo

United States ----Strombus gigas

Vietnam--Halong Bay ----Melo Melo