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Pinctada maxima   (Jameson, 1901)

Silverlip pearl oyster

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Pinctada maxima  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Pinctada maxima

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Gastropoda | Ostreida | Margaritidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 60 m (Ref. 348), usually 5 - 30 m (Ref. 348).  Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-West Pacific: from Nicobar and Andaman Islands to Melanesia; north to Japan and south to Queensland and Western Australia; Borneo and Moluccas.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 30.0 cm ShL male/unsexed; (Ref. 348); common length : 20.0 cm SHH male/unsexed; (Ref. 348)

Short description Morphology

Shell rather thick and large (attaining 30 cm in length), subcircular in outline, with a short and ill-defined posterior ear which is not drawn out into a wing-like process. Anterior margin markedly protruding beyond the tip of anterior ear. Outer surface of valves, when not worn, covered with flattened, imbricating concentric scales bearing large and irregular, flat spines with blunt ends, roughly arranged in radial rows and projecting at shell margins. Hinge completely devoid of teeth. Colour: outside of shell uniformly fawn, sometimes with radial stripes of darker spots in umbonal region; then, ground colour in that region green, dark brown, or purple. Internal nacreous area highly lustrous, silvery with a variably extended golden border. Non-nacreous margin clear, of plain horny colour.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Mainly in clear water under the influence of currents. Often in dense colonies. Littoral and sublittoral to a depth of 60 m; most common from sublittoral at depths of 5 to 30 m (Ref. 348). On various bottoms, byssally attached to hard substrates at least in the young stages (Ref. 348). Inhabits a broad range of habitat, from sand, mud, gravel, seagrass beds, deep-water reefs, to near sponges, soft corals or whip corals. Filter-feeder (Ref. 101206).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Bivalvia are mostly gonochoric, some are protandric hermaphrodites. Life cycle: Embryos develop into free-swimming trocophore larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

SAUP Database. 2006. (Ref. 356)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
| FishSource | Sea Around Us

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More information

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 24.4 - 29.1, mean 28.2 (based on 1342 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.72-0.79).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.
Nutrients: Calcium = 149 [71, 228] mg/100g; Iron = 8.53 [1.95, 15.11] mg/100g; Protein = 9.88 [8.64, 11.12] %; Omega3 = 0.313 [0.202, 0.423] g/100g; Selenium = 61 [50, 72] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 2.04 [0.56, 3.51] mg/100g (wet weight).